Foreign Languages, Unspoken Expendibility & Stock
by SailorSilvanesti
Summary: "They were doomed.  …and Nightwing seemed to think it was hilarious. Wally groaned and sincerely prayed this was a dream…" Captured by Blackfire, Starfire's sister, the pair can't help but wonder..where was the Justice League, and why weren't they coming?
1. PART I

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Justice League or the Teen Titans. nor Blackfire but I'm nort sure which comic she really belongs to...**

**This will be a strange, yet awesome fic...as I have written it, duh! XD **

**I think there will be three parts, I have part two half-written, please let me know what you think.**

**~Enjoy.**

* * *

><p><strong>Foreign Languages, Unspoken Expendability &amp; Stockholm Syndrome<strong>

**~)0(~**

**PART I**

The doors buckled inwards under the impressive force of the deep purple starbolts, and the thudding of golden fists in a flurry of angered attack. Princess Kormand'r, once first in line for the throne of Tamaran, but superseded by her sister Koriand'r due to her childhood illness, was now filled with an avenging fury that would only be sated in her sister's blood.

"_Why us_, I mean _seriously_?" sighed Wally, glancing over the broad span of control console from his co-pilot seat at the unmasked Nightwing to his right, the other hero slouching in the pilot's seat, feet on the steering wheel of the Javelin Nine, newest edition to the Justice League's space fleet. "Of all the days, of all the missions and of _all the possible Javelins in the vicinity_…she chooses to attack _our_ ship? It has to be you, bat-boy, I don't care if it's illogical…_I'm blaming you_!" He said with a quirk of the lips to let the other know it was a simple joke brought on by the overwhelming fear of the moment…

The Tamaranian warrior stalked into the room with violet eyes blazing, glaring at the pair of up-until-that-moment relaxed heroes, who had been taking advantage of the generalised lack of League 'supervision' on their latest mission to some weird planet full of naked crab-people, that had been in distress thanks to the _exact person_ trying to tear them a new one _this very instant_…

Her Gordanian guards spilled into the room from the breached door, prompting Flash and Nightwing to leap from their seats and assume fighting stances… They needn't have bothered. In less time than it took to blink, a blazing starbolt had stunned the pair and allowed the armoured lizard-troll-creature-things to overpower them.

In a pure daze of half-conscious confusion, Wally blinked the world back into focus and tried desperately to hear the apparently impressive evil monologue Blackfire was giving, through the deafening ringing in his ears. The taste of copper was in his mouth; probably bit his lip or something…he could feel something healing at great speed…

In a sudden thought for the welfare of Nightwing, he made to leap up…but found he only received an infuriating jangling noise for his efforts. Oh…chains. _High-Tech_ Chains, to be exact. That wasn't exactly new, but it was a surprise…he'd kind of expected to be _Tamaranian Fried Speedster_ by now.

The Tamaranian Warlord…-_WarLady?-_...whatever, she wasn't known for her mercy in any quadrant of the_ known_ galaxy; and while there may a random planet where she was well-known for hugging fluffy kittens in an unknown quadrant, it wasn't here and that side of her definitely wasn't the one talking to them right now.

Suddenly a thought struck him, the planet…the attack…it had been a trap. To…catch a Green Lantern? Well, it _was_ John Stewart's assigned territory, but he'd been spread so thin recently, the League and whichever other heroes they could find and drag along –_kicking and/or screaming was optional_- had taken over his duties. Recently, there seemed a significant increase in Galactic unrest…mainly caused by the one before them, but…how could she have…?

Oh, right, monologue. Should_ really_ pay attention next time.

…if there _was_ a next time…

He leant the tiniest bit to the right where he could see the darkly-clad figure in his peripheral vision, still maskless –what did it matter, she already knew their real identities from all those trips the Titans had taken to Tamaran when they were younger- and whisperingly asked, "_What'd I miss?_"

"_Well, she went over the _Scooby-Doo_-esque '_If it hadn't been for you meddling kids and my damn sister_!' thing a while ago, then we started on the whole 'my ingenious plan' part. Shhhh…she's about to tell us why she did this…I love hearing how they managed to catch us."_ the other hero breathed at him. Garnering a weird look from Wally, who clearly thought it was strange the other was not only enjoying the whole 'capture' business, but seemed to have a favourite part…

To be fair, the Titans _had_ been kidnapped more times than anyone could count…

"Worthless creatures, humans; but it seems my dear sister has taken a liking to you…one especially, though I shall not be satisfied until I can stand over her in victory as she weeps over your bodies, the blood of her beloved Titan family pooling around her knees!" grinned the maddened with jealousy and a twisted hatred, Blackfire. Wally mentally revised her score on his internal Craziness Scale…she went from a 'seven point five', to so far past the 'ten' mark she was a '_fifty_'; still Kormand'r persisted.

"It did not take much to stir you from your space hive…just a handful of attacks on a few unimportant worlds and you come streaming out into the galaxy with your pitiful good intentions… My troops were watching, waiting…and when you two appeared on _Tracchus Maxima_, to stop the silly little matter of some necessary…_culling_ of an inferior species, they notified me of your presence. Thus we have taken your ship, do not resist…I would hate to break you before it is time, after all…if you are already broken, my _dear _sister, Starfire, shall not find your agonising deaths at my hands so amusing."

"So nice of you to give us a send-off party, but if you could untie us now…?" questioned the former leader of the Titans, giving one of those smiles that made the man so indistinguishable from the Boy Wonder he used to be…all they needed was a quick '_Holy Hannah, Batman_!' to complete the picture… Attempting to distract her from the way he was jostling his chains in an attempt to break the combination on the advanced electronic lock holding the glowing metal links fast about their forms…

_She noticed_. Damn.

He received a backhand from the angered Tamaranian, "Silence in my presence _Human_! Hmmm…I can see why Koriand'r is so infatuated with you…" she practically purred, sending a chill of horror down their spines, her gaze flickered to the unmasked Flash "…but I do prefer this one's hair colour, _h'tak _was_ always my favourite colour…_you Humans call it…_red_, I believe? No matter. A difficult choice..." Now it was Wally's turn to feel terrified, the purple eyes came closer, face so close he could practically head-butt her… he swiftly quashed down that particular thought in favour of living past the momentary thrill that act would bring.

"Perhaps it would be crueller to _dear _Koriand'r…if I were to leave you alive…" Kormand'r mused aloud, leaving the pair with horrifying visions of what she had been reported to do to uncooperative prisoners without killing them…none of which were particularily exciting prospects at this moment. She seemed to reach a consensus with herself, or maybe there was a debate going on between her inner demons, _X'hal_ only knew she had a few of those…someone or something won out over all the other ideas at the very least.

"I have decided that I shall keep you both, as mates and consorts, you will see how my sister's delicate heart breaks when I tell her of it! Little wonder one as great as I had not thought of it earlier, for the plan is so simple…far beneath one such as _I_ to imagine." To his right, Dick nearly had a spit-take moment…and probably would have if there were any liquid available, at her proclamation.

Wally's mouth opened to protest that it had actually been _she_ who thought of the plan initially…but snapped his jaw shut at the '_Tamaranian Fried Speedster coming right up_' death glare he was receiving from the former Princess. Gordanian soldiers slammed butts of their strange glowing spears into their backs, leaving a faint thud and a rattle of chains in the suddenly still air; they pushed back upright in unison with harshly bound hands, just in time to see their captor raise her own unbound pair in the air dramatically.

"I own you all, now, K_neel before __**Blackfire**_!" screamed Kormand'r to her chained captives, laughing maniacally. Wally looked to Dick from where he was bound and chained next to him, blinking incredulously, and asked, "Was that Tamaranian for, '_You are all my bitches_'?"

Dick didn't even flinch as he casually flicked a glance between the hysterically laughing Tamaranian overlord and his best friend, blue eyes sparkling with a sincere amusement as he replied, "Magic Eight Ball says 'A_ll signs point to Yes'_."

~)0(~

They were doomed.

…and Nightwing seemed to think it was hilarious. Wally groaned and sincerely prayed this was a dream…

~)0(~

It wasn't.

If it had been, he would have wet the bed…and then questioned why he was sleeping with Dick…who would also probably question why he'd wet the bed. Or kick him out of it, either way…

~)0(~

He mentally calmed himself, surely the League would burst in any time now and rescue them…right?

They didn't.

He would be having harsh four and five-letter words with Superman over this fudge-up later… Still, they couldn't leave them captive forever, right? It was just a matter of time…yeah, a matter of time. Give it a week and they'd be free…

~)0(~

Yeah, right. Hope was for the weak.

On the plus side, Kormand'r was hot…on the downside, so was Nightwing, especially in that tiny little outfit she had them both wearing. _Bad Wally_, he admonished himself, _stop thinking that way…_

At least they could speak Tamaranian now…turns out the whole 'lip contact to gain information' thing the Tamaranians had going was a two-way street. It had been so long… Wally could already feel the growing guilt in Dick like a living creature, pacing against the small cage of his battered heart; he knew this would be hard to explain to Starfire…especially the children…

_All four of them_.

M'nder, Kora'h, Tayl'h and L'orhren. The girls looked very much like their fathers but with golden hues to their skin and thick wavy hair of either raven black or crimson; whereas M'nder was so much like his mother no one could tell who he belonged to…father-wise, that is.

Sometimes, on special occasions or deep in the night when no one was listening, Kormand'r –now Queen and Supreme Overlord of Tamaran since taking it from her sister nearly six years ago- would whisper their favourite phrase in the way that made them both so exceptionally hot and yet terrified for their respective life expectancies. "I own you all, now_, Kneel before Blackfire_!" He mused on that point then smacked his head into a convenient nearby column, oh _X'hal_, what was wrong with him to think this way?

Still, despite the not-quite-covering-slip-of-leather [or was it?]-thing he was wearing -that was exceptionally flattering, by the way-, and the strange thoughts in his head…oh, and the flagging belief in humanity in general, considering the dismal track record of his former teammates at trying to rescue them. The tally now stood at exactly… Zero attempts, all unsuccessful, as you can well imagine.

Not _once_ had the Justice League tried to rescue them and they sure as hell knew they were here; the Teen Titans had tried once, resulting in Starfire's early and involuntary abdication from the throne…in exchange for their continued existence. _Pfft_, like Kormand'r would damage her favourite toys…but Kori hadn't known that.

The absolute look of horror, pity and sadness in her green eyes as the Gordanian Royal Guard had thrown her and the other Titans in the so-called 'rescue party' into a grubby old decommissioned transport vessel, bound for Earth. It had taken days of persuasion and begging on his -and _especially_ Dick's- behalf, to convince Kormand'r into even allowing _that_… Their-…uh, what _was_ she to them exactly? Wife? Mate? Mistress? _Whatever_…had been hell-bent on having her sister executed in a public forum, both to satisfy her own hatred and cement her image as a ruthless dictator to the people of Tamaran.

Eventually, as with all things Wally and Dick asked for, she relented and gave in to their demands that she not harm Koriand'r; agreeing with them that eternal banishment was more fitting as a punishment, it would demoralise the people if they knew she was out there but could never return. Well, that was the reason they gave her for suggesting it…

~)0(~

Seven years to the day of their Capture, the pair were side by side on one of the Palace balconies, overlooking the Royal Gardens as night slipped across the sky, stars gleaming beautifully but coolly down upon them in now-familiar constellations so alien to those of Earth. "Never thought this would happen, I have to admit." Sighed Dick, leaning on the rail with a tired exhalation, their garments were at least slightly more fitting for the cooling climate; from low on the hips to the knees, ornate plate-skirts of finely wrought metal, fabric and embroidery hung ornately. One a dark crimson, the other deep blue…

"To be honest, me either. Kinda thought at least Batman would come kicking through the door to drag your sorry, sexy butt home, or maybe Green Lantern might you know, come and get me…this is technically in his territory after all… What with the League and-… I just-…" he sighed deeply, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed tightly to his chest, green eyes shielded from the world by his harshly clenched eyelids, preventing tears from falling.

"This isn't fair, Dick. What did we ever do…apart from everything they ever asked of us? Why didn't they come for us, the League I mean? Maybe they don't care… I trusted them and they betrayed me, betrayed _us_." He sighed and rubbed at tired eyes, "Now I don't think I can ever leave here, even if they do come…could you leave the kids? Kora'h only just turned four and M'nder, well, he's a heck of a handful now…only ever seems to listen to you though…maybe he's yours?" He nudged the dark-haired human across from him, beaming.

"Heh, actually, I thought he was yours… kid can't sit still for a second, not to mention the hair… and you're right. I don't think I could leave the Twins right now, little Tayl'h and L'orhren have only just started to crawl…and I'm pretty certain one of them said 'Dada' the other day…" agreed Dick, moving to sit on a nearby bench. Many things had been made specifically for their comfort, Kormand'r liked to show them off to the entire world…and also had a flair for the opulent and luxurious; such traits coincided and resulted in her being exceptionally generous in her giving of gifts, in fact, Blackfire lavished them on the pair.

There really was no need. She knew now they had children to her, they would never leave…nor could they leave her, some strange Stockholm syndrome-style love that bound them in their place at her sides. On the plus side, they got to roam the palace unhindered now; the whole 'guards following you everywhere' got old after the second day, so two years of it just about sent them nuts…which was quite a fun journey, actually.

A quirked lip spoke of Wally remembering the time Dick had been so frustrated at being locked in the luxurious but small room he shared with Wally, that he had accosted the next Gordanian soldier by the throat and screamed, "_**You're not made of Tuesday**_!"

Thus prompting Blackfire to order their immediate release from the room, and granted access unhindered to most parts of the Palace, gardens and certain parts of the main city…anywhere else though, and you needed a patrol of soldiers.

Not that any of the native Tamaranians would dream of hurting them. Quite the contrary, you could see the sad pity in their gazes as they looked at them, knowing you could never return home was a horrifying fate for any Tamaranian to contemplate. Just another reason they despised the woman Wally and Dick felt a strange compulsion to love…

"Seven years," the voice pierced through his thoughts and stirred him back to the present, "Seven years we've been on this planet, at least Starfire and the others tried. I will never blame them for failing, Kormand'r's people were just too strong to overcome; but I agree Wally, the Justice League should have attempted a rescue by now… Or…maybe they just don't care? This sounds harsh but, what need do they have for a speedster when they have Superman…? And I wasn't even _on_ the damn League because they didn't need another Liability running around…they already have _Booster Gold_."

Dick smiled sadly, Wally slid down to sit next to him, reclining back to rest his bare back against the cool texture of the pale wall… "I know what you mean. We were…I think the word is 'expendable', but I think there might have been the tiniest bit of respect in there for us _somewhere_." The speedster cajoled, trying to push his companion's hopes up a little and tugging at the tight circlet on his head; it was a shiny silver metal identical to Dick's but still uncomfortable after so long wearing it.

It just felt… plain _wrong_ to be wearing it, considering that the one who had bestowed it –Supreme Ruler Blackfire- was so hated and despised by her people…

"Doubt it, somehow. Do you know why I was always fighting with Batman? Whenever we're together, he always slips into the mindset that I'm still that stupid kid in the scaly underoos… _Which_, by the way, I heard you and Roy mocking that one time, you are lucky you only woke up with missing eyebrows…I can do much worse, you two have to sleep for eight hours a night, that gives me all the opportunity I need.

Anyway, he thinks he can still order me around in that same condescending tone because he will _never_ see me as an equal; at least you gained greater status amongst the other heroes when you adopted the mantle of Flash. I never wanted to be Batman, and I think Bruce always knew that… Maybe the new Robin will do it…wonder if he's even still alive after all this time… I mean, considering what happened to Jason…"

Goosebumps appeared on the former-Bludhaven vigilante's arms, shuddering at the terrible images of that day…the broken body of Jason Todd, the second Robin. He still blamed himself for that. Wally did the best thing someone could do in one of these situations, he smacked him about the head…hard. "Stop it, it wasn't your fault he died, hell…you couldn't have done anything even if you'd been there… Didn't Poison Ivy kiss you? I'm pretty certain you were doing a little dying of your own at the time. And that was you who shaved my eyebrows off? I always thought Roy did it…thus the whole 'Roy _waking up naked in a Japanese Mall_' prank…" The grin was infectious and flashed all his teeth in a dazzling display.

A clumping sound announced a patrol was making its way through the gardens, weapons clattering and armour making squeaking grunts every so often; they watched the progress with a kind of bored fascination.

"Should we go and see if the children need anything?" fidgeted Wally, standing, sitting, doing a quick pace, a vague, yet disturbing version of the chicken dance and sitting down again, vibrating gently. Dick shook his head, "The nanny is there tonight, besides, weren't we having a meaningful conversation….or is this just a ploy to get away from my appalling company?" he joked, prodding at the speedster, "Go on, take a quick run around the complex, I've already made use of the gym tonight. I know she hates us training, but if I lost the ability to move and fight like I did on Earth… Let's just say I would prefer to kill myself rather than...well, you know. Just imagine if she said you could never run again?"

"I might have to vibrate her through a wall or something equally as severe." Wally said with a grave face, then cracked under the cool gaze of his companion, "Yeah, like she would ever do that…or catch me if she did. That would be fun to try out. At least she values us, unlike certain metas, aliens and otherwise powered beings out there…" he gave a dark gaze to the sky, his image blurred momentarily, then he solidified again, sweating slightly. "Whew, I feel better. So…we were talking about worth or something? Sorry, my mind has a half-dozen conversations going right now, I think faster so I tend to forget where we were to start with…"

A saddened wail split the air, both males tensed, looking up and waiting to see if the call was answered before running to the rescue; it was. Kora'h, had to be, her little voice tapered off as someone began to hush her in Tamaranian…a language they had both come to know and speak without any thought about it whatsoever; their hearts slowed from the frantic rush of need to get to their children.

"_Worth_. Taking on the Flash mantle was always in the cards, part of being Kid Flash I suppose. You had a choice, and you took the harder path… I can see it being difficult to argue with a bunch of superhuman adults who all still see you as that adorable quip-slinging eight-year-old in the pixie boots and far too short pants –_seriously, what was Batman thinking when he designed that costume, is he colour-blind?_

I remember Superman saying as much to a nodding Wonder Woman after you had a disagreement with Batman and J'onn, something about going to Tamaran anyway or something. That's not important, what is, is that if they ever cared about us, they would have come by now. Obviously I wasn't good enough as a teammate, or they'd have been here seven years ago…"

Dick scoffed, "Obviously you were, how many times did you save the world since you joined the League, alone? The logical explanation is they either think we're dead, have eloped to Tamaran –_if that is the case I will personally murder Beast Boy for that rumour_ _he started_- or just don't care. You were a new member, yes…you had value…but if they thought you'd perished, why waste resources to rescue just me? It's only logical, and you were beat up pretty bad for that 'hostage video' thing Kormand'r took just before we arrived at Tamaran, maybe you're dead to them…"

Wally pounded a fist into a wall, "Why do we even bother talking about it? They aren't coming. We'll never be rescued and, for the life of me, as much as I'd like to see everyone again and get my life back…what is there on Earth that I don't have here? On Tamaran we have Kormand'r, each other, the children and anything we want –and you know I don't mean that in a greedy way. On Earth, the best we can look forwards to is a quick hug or a half-assed welcoming party, and a butt-load of media who would have put two and two together after our disappearances…both civilian and super, and now want to know about where we've been for the past seven years or so. Some sensational story will come out of it no doubt…then we go back to being second-rate side-kicks who all the others think are playing dress-up with the Big Boys."

Dick blanched, "Oh dammit. I didn't write up the report for the quadruple homicide before we left on the emergency mission, if we ever make it back to Earth…Officer Rodriguez –my assigned partner- will shoot me, and then the Chief…and anyone else in the Bludhaven Police Department who feels like it, in that specific order. Considering how very doomed I am, maybe it is best we stay here. What are we anyway, but obscure heroes?

Well, you're a little hard to hide in the shadows, what with all the flashy red spandex, but I'm sure you've noticed we of the nocturnal variety of heroes have a tendency to get lost in the darkness. Heh. Did I tell you Roy went behind my back and stole the Outsiders from me? Don't even have a team to lead or just be _on_ if we went back, he just attacked me one day when my back was turned…so I let him have the team, just walked away. Why fight when you will lose even if you win?"

Frowning deeply, an uncharacteristic move on his behalf, Wally looked significantly at his friend and said with all seriousness, "_You put the lime in the coconut and shake it all up._" Stunned, Dick didn't reply, simply goggling at the mad creature wearing the familiar redhead's skin…which decided to impart more of it's…_questionable '_wisdom', "_If squirrels throw rocks at windows, I am an Elephant_. _The toaster is full of Unicorns, well-done_." This time, his companion blinked and burst into laughter born of pure shock.

"It would have to be you to joke at a time like this, wouldn't it?" he finally wheezed out, leaning alternately upon the wall and his suddenly seated and exceptionally close friend, who didn't seem to mind one bit he was being used as a leaning post. "It's nearly time for bed…wonder if she'll call for one of us or if we can continue the angst-fest in our room…?" mused Dick aloud, "I have a few 'Bat-Daddy didn't love me' jokes that will make even you blanch in horror at their bad taste in Punnery…or we can talk about our shared abandonment issues? You, the rising star of the League left in the cold, dark recesses of space…captive on another planet by uncaring teammates because…not sure why, no wait, I have a thought. Because Green Lantern was jealous of the way Hawkgirl was always nice to you…well, her own brand of nice…which usually involved that mace of hers…"

By now, Wally was bent over double with tears streaming down his face as he pounded a fist onto his knees and wheezed; in less than the time it takes to blink, he composed himself. "That's a new one even for me. Or you, the beloved Bat-baby, now you've grown up and stop throwing the lame puns about, are suddenly not so fun to play with anymore. So they tossed you in Titan daycare and when that disbanded, kind of forgot to care…then you failed to play nice with Arsenal at Outsider High and were expelled. Bat Daddy wasn't pleased when he came to pick you up in the Batmobile, now was he?" The look the redhead was receiving was somewhere between, '_I am going to murder you in your sleep._' and '_This is hilarious_!'

…he hoped the latter meant he would see the sunrise.

"So then, in lieu of the lack of teammates and anything to do, you randomly discover a superpower of your own…turning invisible anytime an older hero wanders past on their walking frame! _With this ultra-super-secret power, the Power Puff [Sexy But Buff] Boys were born…Roy, Dick and Wally, fighting crime and the forces of EVIL!_" he couldn't resist, he really couldn't. Not since the day he had found Robin and Wonder Girl watching the show in the Tower…

"You mangled it a little, you know…" smiled Dick. Wally took his cue to look affronted, "Pfft! It's called 'creative licence' look it up…" he retorted, it was like the script of a bad sitcom…and _X'hal_ knows they'd watched a few of those on long nights in the Tower. It was that or strip poker…and without Donna, that was never fun…well, it was, but they weren't going to advertise that to the world, someone might get the wrong idea.

"So, just to recap before I fall asleep…" yawned Dick, giving the speedster a shove so he could take the entire bed for his own personal usage, namely as an impromptu bed. "You. Me. Very Screwed. League has not, is not and nor will ever come to rescue us. Allegedly because you are just too sexy in spandex and I'm magically invisible when an older hero walks by…and we're also the Power Puff Boys? I feel like I missed something here…" He settled his head on the crook of an arm, the bench was made for sitting or lying, and he was taking full advantage, stretched out like a comfortable cat.

Wally blinked, "Hang on, I don't recall us discussing my sexiness in spandex?" he said, puzzled. One blue eye slitted open to look at him as a smug smirk grew, "Oh, it's called 'creative licence' _look it up_." The pair began to laugh, "I should have seen that coming, I guess…_Short Pants._" The speedster threw, without malice; to which was replied, "Oh, digging up that old chestnut are you, _Speedfreak_? Don't make me come over there and get you…because I will, but if I have to move now that I'm so extremely comfortable, you will be leaving this very balcony in a body bag."

The slitted eye slid shut as Wally weighed up the options available, dashing away for a moment and returning with an exceptionally ornate vase and a mischievous grin on his face, raised high over the seemingly oblivious other.

"Don't. You. _Dare_. I _can and will_ kill you, make no mistake." Growled the ominous voice of the supposedly-sleeping person on the couch, his mop of deep black hair slightly askew despite it only having been a few moments of rest; Wally dropped the vase in surprise and only just caught it before it shattered upon the floor. "How on _Earth_ did you know?" he asked incredulously, and let out an amused chuckle at his own choice of wording…

"The tell-tale '_Ka-Whoosh', _obviously." Yawned the other, opening his eyes and sitting upright, finally accepting he wasn't going to get any sleep in the near future, and graciously accepting the suddenly-proffered cup of the strong purple liquid the Tamaranians liked to imbibe. It had taken the pair a good year of drinking the stuff before their bodies adjusted to it, the initial twelve month period had been a complete agony; hangovers from hell, gaping holes in their memories –_possibly a good reason neither could work out which of them were M'nder's father_-, uncontrollable shaking, much stumbling, public humiliation, nudity and generalised drunkenness.

Wally snorted, "_Ka-Woosh_? What the heck kind of word is that?" he giggled in a strange high-pitched way that sent shivers down your spine and reminded one of children sharing a naughty secret. Imbibe the drink they might be able to do without too many other adverse effects, but no one ever said anything about their having a high tolerance level for it… -one of the main reasons Kormand'r wouldn't let them have more than water at any important functions or feasts for her loyalists and commanders. One must not incite a scandal…or run nude through the Dining Hall.

…Again.

Frowning slightly at the two redheads giggling above him, wondering exactly why they kept moving in a steadily tilting wave-like motion, and suddenly realising it was his own vision that was on the fritz…Dick tried to answer, "Well, when you leave there's a rush of wind and there's this kind of…_Ka-Woosh!_" He punctuated the sincere statement by raising both hands and flicking his fingers to the word 'ka-woosh', sloshing his cup of liquid in a very gracious manner…all over the cool stone of the floor. Now, maybe it was the drink talking…or thinking, as the case may be, but it seemed a sudden realisation dawned on Wally, for his mouth parted to emit a soft, "O_oooh_!" of understanding.

~)0(~

"Hey, know what would be funny? C'mon, let's go for a _Ka-Whoooooooooosh_!" Wally giggled, the hour was now exceptionally late and many more glasses of the unpronounceable purple liquid had been drunk, both parties were blinking quickly to keep themselves awake. Wally stood, stumbled, fell, stood again and attempted to drag Dick up with him…the darker-haired male resisting from habit. "No, Wal-Wally, we shouldn't…might hit a wall and …_smoosh!_" He clapped his hands together with a loud crack, making his point quite thoroughly…

"Alright, fine…" pouted the speedster, giggling again as a funny thought struck him. "Hey Dick…guess what? …you're _drunk_!" He received an exceptionally sceptical, sober gaze. "So're you! Now shhh, we can sleep for a while…" With that, Dick flopped down to lie on the bench and turned away from the distracting redhead.

There was a good five seconds of silence.

"Hey Dick…" came the voice in the otherwise quiet night, "Do you think they really forgot about us…the League, I mean?" There was a quiet sigh, and a gentle creak of leather as the other rolled over to look at Wally, sitting on the floor with his back resting against the very same bench, head tilted back, looking up at the stars with a strangely vulnerable, wistful expression.

"Wally, we_ talk_…talked about _th_- this… and would you _sh_- stop being so, …so _soberish_? It's making me look drunker than I already is…I mean, _am_. Th' League isn't coming, Wally, they don't care, that's just how the die rolled. We ended up with the Snake eyes in this tournament… _We're- _…we're _expendable_, they've _aban_- abandoned us!" he said as best as he was able.

"Oh did we now?" came a loud, warm voice from across the balcony; both Wally and Dick jerked up to stare at the blue and red clad figure hovering just out of reach, arms folded across his impressive chest and a tight smile on his face. Neither of them dared to breathe the word, the name…in case it was a drunken vision that could be easily chased away if they spoke…

"Come on, let's get you home," smiled the muscular figure gently, but with an undeniable air of authority. Neither could bear to believe it, rescue. _Here_. Now. It was no illusion, no alcohol-induced hallucination…the figure floating before them was real.

Superman.

And he'd come to take them home …but, what if they didn't want to go?

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><p><strong><em>TBC...<em>**

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><p><strong><em>Please Review &amp; Let me know how you feel about this story so far, gets weirder.<em>**

Yes, I am aware they have been a little angsty, but imagine if that were you, and the people you considered family had just left you there to die...you would be pretty damn angry too...

**_~*SailorSilvanesti*~_**


	2. PART II

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Titans, or the Justice League...but my imagination compensates for the horrific mental loss attributed to realising this... *Reow!* XD**

**Part 2 of my disturbing Titan Story, and yet, it remains to be seen what will happen next...**

**Enjoy, if you can...**

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><p><strong>PART II<strong>

"Flash, Nightwing, we haven't got a lot of time. The rest of the League is waiting in a cloaked Javelin just outside the Palace walls, Batman's jamming the shield frequency and detection systems for now, but it won't last long."

Superman swooped forwards in a rush of air, a mighty _'Ka-woosh_', as certain drunken vigilante might say…when he noticed how they tensed at his approached, though swaying unsteadily on their feet. He paused to assess the situation, "You're drunk. I have to admit, I didn't see that coming…luckily for you, Batman did. Damn he's going to be smug…"

Brandishing two small tubes, the Man of Steel produced a tiny gun-like apparatus, "Now hold still, this might sting a bit but you'll thank me for it in a minute. Wait, no-…" he sighed and pressed a hand to his eyes, then shot off at high speeds to catch the speedster before he managed to make an impressive-looking wall mural. His outstretched hand snatched at the speedster's arm, wrapping firmly around the bicep and pulling them both to a standstill cautiously, so as not to hurt the other with any residual inertia; then turning and flying them both back to the balcony.

...where they were seemingly missing an acrobatic former-Boy Wonder.

Superman dumped the drunken Flash on the bench, swiftly jabbing the gun to his bare neck and whirling about to x-ray the surrounding area, listening hard for-… _There_. Impossible to find normally, it seemed that when inebriated, Nightwing's breathing and heartbeat were erratic and harsher than usual…

He pounced, snatching the younger man from the shadows and tossing him carefully to land besides the sprawled but apparently still alive, Flash. With a click, the second tube was in place and the gun to Nightwing's exposed throat, leaving no chance or time for the vigilante to protest; green liquid hissed and disappeared. Nightwing slumped against the bench, shuddering slightly; Flash sat bolt upright with a harsh jolt, eyes wide and gasping, hand over his suddenly racing heart. "What the hell was in that thing you gave me?" he asked incredulously, then, suddenly recognising the face, screamed, "_**Supes**_! I _knew_ you would come!" and threw arms about him.

Well, Flash _had_ always been a tactile person…

"_**Gah! How did you know which compounds would counteract the Tamaranian wine**_?" Nightwing asked, sitting up with slightly less of a show than Wally had put on, but the words made no sense to Superman, who just blinked in surprise. Maybe the compounds had been incorrect, damaged the speech center of the brain…? Flash dashed over and prodded the other hero, "Dude, English. Supes doesn't speak Tamaranian as far as I know…and yes, before you ask, you were still speaking it."

"Why are you here?" came the question to which the answer should be blatantly obvious, in a chilling tone that would freeze even the cruellest and maddened of villains in their tracks. He frowned; this was new… he had not expected to encounter resistance to the rescue.

"To rescue you, bring you home…we can go back to Earth now. Come on, we have two more minutes before the others launch the Javelin and come looking for us." He extended a hand in a friendly manner, wondering if it would just be better to grab them both and drag them off without their specific consent…but quashed the idea, that was more a Batman plan. Superman would must rather full co-operation and free-will be involved…

_That ideal may have to go out the window in this case_, he revised as he surveyed the two former heroes… A primal light seemed to flare from one pair of blue eyes to the deep green ones beside them, the pair standing and backing away like they saw him as a threat for some reason.

"No." Nightwing clearly informed him of their intentions. Rationality had flown out the window now complete and utter sobriety had returned, had he not spent half the trip across the broad but beautiful surface of Tamaran, to the Palace, -in a cloaked spaceship, no less- listening to their angst-filled conversations of longing to be rescued?

"No?" he questioned casually, trying to sound nonchalant as he moved closer nearly imperceptibly; Flash tensed to run, crouching in a low stance so as to garner the greatest amount of force from the small space if he had to charge the larger, more powerful male. Whereas Nightwing flittered in and out of shadow, body seemingly relaxed and yet, a ripple of muscle here, or the sudden movement there, belied the fake calm as he casually fell into a fighting stance.

"I don't want to hurt you." He said it as a peace offering in the midst of such a confrontation, watching them, as they continued to circle about like predators taking down a much bigger threat… Suddenly, without provocation, Flash leapt forwards, collecting speed and a great deal of kinetic energy in the process, slamming directly into the S-shield on his chest with enough strength to throw him tumbling off the balcony. It took little effort to right himself and shoot back, grabbing the speedster and slamming him against the thick, sturdy bench; oh, not malevolently, of course… just enough to render him unconscious and remove the threat he possessed for the moment.

Carefully, gently, the limp speedster's body was laid on the ground; silence reigned and an uneasy tension built in the still air of deep night…that is, until a certain former Boy Wonder slammed into him from the side. The pure surprise caught him completely off guard and smacked him into a wall; alright, that did it, even if they weren't in their right mindset, he was going to have to take off the kid gloves and give them a firm spanking.

Something crackled in his ear, "_Kzzsht. Superman, you only have twenty-seven seconds, the jamming frequency has been discovered, the Gordanians are already re-routing their systems to bypass ours, do you have them? Repeat, do you have them? Ksssht."_ His hand went to the JLA commlink in his ear and hesitated for a second before replying, "Affirmative, nearly done. Slight complication…they don't want to come with us…Flash is down, Batman. Apprehending Nightwing as we speak, be there in ten, over and out."

Sensing something was wrong, Superman whirled about in an impressive flair of cape and caught sight of Nightwing's hand going to his own throat, snatching something away in a sharp movement; shrill sirens flared to life through the palace, causing even the great Superman to panic slightly. Moving faster than a human's eye could see, the Kryptonian snapped out a hand and grasped the younger human about the throat, clenching off the much-needed air supply. Any other mortal would have, at the least, been intimidated by such an act…terrified of him, but not the mortal he was currently choking; no, Richard's half-closed eyes flashed at him, a small smirk ghosted the lips like an unspoken challenge.

Gritting his teeth, he clenched just the tiniest fraction harder and was rewarded when, with a small involuntary gasp, the younger hero's ice blue eyes rolled back under the lids and his body sagged. Superman hefted Flash over a shoulder one handed, turning just in time to see a small, flashing amulet stray from the nerveless grasp of Nightwing's hand… He took off with all speed just before the Gordanians burst onto the balcony…their exulted '_Supreme Commander_' frantically leading the charge.

As he cleared the walls of the Palace and descended for the hidden Javelin, he spared no remorse for the dark-clad Tamaranian left behind him on the balcony, pacing like an angered but impotent lion in a cage. Superman flew through the open cargo bay doors of the rising ship, readying itself for flight as he touched down and passed one unconscious form to his worried-but-he'd-never-admit-it father…

The Javelin, under Hawkgirl's guidance, took off and sped into space…until Tamaran was just a tiny speck of light many light years distant…

Blackfire screaming her rage and anguish behind them.

~)0(~

"It was unnecessary! You know that, I know that, the _entire League_ is aware of it! Why didn't you just grab them in the duration between when the compound was injected, to when they re-awoke? Much simpler and less physically damaging to their bodies, Flash isn't even healing properly right now, J'onn thinks it's a side effect of Tamaran's atmosphere or possibly what they were drinking before you found them. Something doesn't add up here…" a furious Bat-tirade was quite intimidating to the common criminal, and indeed, even the great Lex Luthor was known to have wet his immaculate black pants on occasion when the Bat had singled him out for some…friendly warning (twice!) , but Superman himself wasn't worried.

Well, not that he would say it aloud…he did want to live after all…actually, come to think of it, he _was_ rather scared. _Laugh nervously, back away slowly and wet your spandex_ scared…

He kept watching at the almost unconscious way Batman's hand reached down to touch at the pouch containing a sliver of Kryptonite, a subtle threat of the Dark Knight's intentions. To be fair, he had just technically strangled the man's long-lost son, estranged or otherwise.

And whilst he may not win a Father of the Year award for his burgeoning relationship with Conner, also known as Superboy, if anything happened to him…there would be hell to pay. So, there was an element of understanding that his potential-death may have a parental purpose other than plain revenge for touching one of _the Bat's_ 'Birds'…

Turning swiftly, Batman stalked from the room and into the Javelin's medical bay; upon two stretchers were laid out, Wally and Dick, side by side. One with bruising to one side of his face where it had had an impromptu meeting with a slab of marble-esque stone, the other's throat was a mottled variety of bruises that gave testament to exactly how much force had been applied.

"He will be fine, Batman. Although I do not agree with Superman's methods, their resistance was not something we had a contingency plan in place for…_improvisation_… was required." Soothed the telepath, Martian Manhunter; instinctively sensing the desire in the Dark Knight to beat the living tar out of the man behind him. Using Kryptonite or otherwise…

A rapping at the door turned all attention in that direction, "Hey, how's the kid? I- _whoa_, did I come at a bad time?" questioned Green Lantern John Stewart, stepping back a pace as _the Bat-Glare_ was thrown in his direction…

Superman spoke the reassuring word "_No._" at the exact same moment Batman responded with a gruff "_Yes._", leaving a very confused Lantern hesitantly standing in the doorway…but J'onn motioned him in with a hand. "Flash is recovering, though the planet's atmosphere or the food available may have adversely altered his ability to heal himself at an accelerated rate for the time being. Please inform Shayera of my prognosis, as she is quite concerned over Wallace's health, but has decided to take her frustrations out on the navigation console."

The fluorescent green eyes widened, glanced to the still form of Wally in his unusual Tamaranian outfit of Scarlet red, as if to reassure himself this wasn't some elaborate trick of the light, and that Wally was really here…after all this time. Then turned away in a great hurry as the ship began to rock under fire from an _Nth-Metal_ Mace and an exceptionally emotionally-confused Thanagarian...

Shortly after, the pounding thuds diminished to a faint whack every so often…and then, ceased completely. There were several long minutes of silence in which the air grew thick with tension…

"Hawkgirl should be here momentarily, Diana also…" J'onn informed the two men glaring at one another from opposite ends of the room, a small smile of approval graced his alien features as the Martian saw how Batman had surreptitiously moved closer to stand by Nightwing's bedside. One darkly gloved hand unobtrusively holding onto the unconscious younger male's wrist, seeming as if to feel for the pulse to reassure himself of the other's continued existence as part of the non-dead, or non-zombie population.

J'onn caught himself on that last thought and minutely shook his head…he had been spending _far_ too much time around Flash…and he looked forwards to doing so again, after they had been properly cleared for returning to Earth life. He turned back to the medical readouts scrolling across the large screen and sighed.

~)0(~

Bolting upright, gasping and/or groaning were all stereotypical and, to be honest, _rather clichéd_ ways in which to awaken after a lapse of unconsciousness to which you barely remembered entering, at least…voluntarily. It didn't _feel_ like he'd gone to sleep…and the ache on the side of his face bespoke of, at the very least, some form of concussion and a mass of impressive-looking bruises.

At the sound of voices, he froze and told himself to think like Dick… knowing the other would feign unconsciousness and listen to their captors for information on who, why and where in order to pinpoint their location. So he did…though, the voices seemed _vaguely familiar_…maybe he had temporary amnesia or something, because he couldn't for the life of him remember what had happened before waking up here…

Slitting one eye, he rolled the green orb to the right and was rewarded with a side-view of a still-sleeping Nightwing, still in his Tamaranian consort outfit of night blue; and, wiggling so minutely no one would notice, from the feel of it…he was also still dressed in his favourite outfit for the moment. So…whoever it was hadn't changed their clothing…obviously not Brother Blood or any of _H'k'tal_…damn those jelly aliens had a thing about making humanoids into their own personal Barbie dolls. _Hang on_, he mentally smacked himself, _Ken_ doll…sounded way more masculine.

…Even if some of the outfits they had been forced to wear…well, _weren't_…

Kormand'r had actually lead the campaign against them herself, about four years ago, when the two of them had been taken by those strange creatures…even though she had been carrying little Kora'h at the time…

An intergalactic war just to rescue them…like being Helen of Troy, wasn't it? Made you feel a little special too; _Kormand'r always liked to-_… his heart sank. Oh _X'hal, _**Kormand'r**! Had they hurt her? Was she here? Did they know she was-…?

His mind blanked as his eye snapped shut, relaxing all his muscles to fool the person or creature that now cast a shadow over his face this very instant…so very close. Yet, he didn't _sense_ danger…whyever not? Straining, Wally listened into the conversation being held overhead.

"…John's piloting right now, but he said if anything happens and we don't tell him immediately, the only warning we'll get of our deaths will be a brilliant green flash…then, nothing." Laughed someone close to his left ankle, their body-heat was so close it radiated…and, hang on…was that-… It was. A feather seemed to be brushing lazily up and down a specific spot on his leg as they, a female voice, laughed; again, familiar…but alien.

Another thought occurred, why on Tamaran would anyone be tickling a –supposedly- unconscious man with a feather duster?

He focused again as the laughter died away. "You may be interested to know he is aware...and listening to us this very moment, though he does not remember what has occurred…" said a deep, hypnotic voice with some concern. Someone sucked in a breath sharply, the figure by his head moved closer and placed a soft hand to his bare shoulder, it felt soft…like a female's, but slightly harsh, calloused as if from wielding weapons or doing physical tasks.

"Look, I don't want to say the tacky line, 'Where am I?", so I will ask this once and once only… Did anyone get the name of the Kryptonian that hit me?" he said, smiling and opening his green eyes; startling Wonder Woman, who held his shoulder comfortingly.

Even more startling was when a very familiar voice replied with, "If his name begins with '_Kal_' and ends with '_El_', I am going to force feed him Kryptonite…" Prompting Batman to whirl about in a flutter of dark cape…and Superman to start edging towards the door as Dick sat up, glaring at the Kryptonian. "You remember…?" Superman asked incredulously of Nightwing, who raised an eyebrow and shot the best imitation of the Bat-Glare to date, "How do you forget when someone bursts into your home and attacks you? Not to mention trying to strangle me…"

His blue eyes slid towards Batman, "Hey dad, can I borrow the lump of glowing green rock in the 'Cave for a little while…?"

Superman went white as a sheet, as Batman answered simply, "Of course."

~)0(~

And there it was, the cheesy film moment when all memory floods back as if someone had flipped a light-switch on in his brain…you could practically see the bulb floating over his head and glowing hotly. He was upright and pointing his finger in Superman's face before anyone could blink, "_YOU_!" he growled.

Taken aback, Superman stepped backwards with wide blue eyes; nearly crossed over one another to stare at the finger in his face. "I- wha- Wally, you have to understand, we would have come sooner if we could, it's just…we couldn't get here and-…there was this invasion and-…well, you see, it's like this-…" the man spat out. This seemed to incense the redhead even further, seeing as he threw both hands into the air with a martyred, exasperated expression on his face.

"You just don't _get it_, do you? Sure, you may have heard us bitching and moaning about wanting to be rescued, but hell, we dropped all pretence of thinking it was going to happen _years_ ago. Besides, Kormand'r-…you know what, if you don't know, I'm not telling you!" Wally said, clenching his hands into fists and sped across the room to have the standing Dick at his back.

~)0(~

Batman's hand unobtrusively touched Nightwing's shoulder in a manner that expressed more than words ever would…then slid away before any of the others could see or understand the gesture.

The Dark Knight understood, and did not judge, but his misgivings were clear in the way he tensed…after all, it had taken so many years of patient threatening to get the League to finally venture out into the galaxy and bring his son home. Now, he stood to lose him again.

The younger man's hand slid behind his back to grab his father's wrist. The grip was tight, but not painful; it meant more than words could ever say…but as it slackened, it didn't take a genius to read the hidden meaning… _Forgive me._

Then the hand was gone, and Batman imperceptibly tensed even further.

~)0(~

Being the most experienced diplomat in the room, Diana stepped forwards, one hand extended open-palmed and the other resting lightly on her breastplate to denote she meant no threat…body language, she had found, was a deeply-rooted ideal in negotiation. Even the slightest involuntary twitch can cause doubt in the other party's minds…and right now, it would pay not to antagonise their confused companions any further…

"Wally, Richard, we understand this is hard for you, but please, let us explain. You see, shortly after you were captured, your destroyed Javelin crashed into another -_as yet unknown_- planet… Months of tracking the vague co-ordinates, sent out by the automated distress beacon, yielded the final destination and crash-site. By then, there was little hope for your survival in most of the extended League's eyes…but some held to hope, the Titans especially…" she said, though her eyes slid to look at Batman and Shayera in a very significant gesture.

Hawkgirl slammed a mace into her hand and cut in with, "Damn right I didn't give up on you, John either…we knew you were still out there. Too damn clever not to be alive, and considering you were with one of the Bat-clan, well…that pretty much tripled your chance of survival as far as I was concerned." Her hooded eyes flickered gratefully to Nightwing and then back to Flash. Who, despite his earlier anger, and that which still simmered under his neutral façade, smiled back in genuine warmth; he'd always felt close to Shayera and John, even if he had flirted unsuccessfully with them both on many occasions…

Wonder Woman steered the conversation back to its original topic smoothly, "Even after the Javelin was recovered, and it was discovered you were not deceased, it took many more months to piece all the evidence together and even _begin _to track the alien DNA found all over the ship alongside your own. It…was not an easy task. Even the advanced scanners aboard the Watchtower, were completely baffled…that is, until Starfire was injured on an emergency League mission. The Titans took on your roles as JLA members during your extended…_absence_; and in this one instance, it was a blessing.

Starfire's DNA triggered an alert in the Watchtower database, not only identifying your captor's race as Tamaranian, but also identifying them by nearly identical genetic code to her own. It had to be Blackfire… Sadly, it took a full eighteen months to garner this knowledge…for this, we apologise, but there is worse yet to be heard. For after we discovered this, the Titans took off for Tamaran and returned in a battered old ship, half-alive and weakened by battle, riddled with tales of horror and excruciating guilt. They could not understand how she had driven them back so easily, but would not risk your lives in a greater confrontation… We treated them here, well…their physical wounds…I do believe they still blame themselves for their failure; especially Koriand'r and Donna…

For a year afterwards, we could not even begin to fathom a way to attack the Homeworld, as Blackfire's troops had spread outwards from Tamaran in waves; conquering worlds in all directions and expanding her iron-clad grip of control over the galaxy, one planet at a time. Civilisations fell, worlds reduced to slavery…and yet, here lies a puzzle we could not understand, she was quite ruthless at removing the threats of military and opposing rulers, and yet…never once did she take an unnecessary life in her campaigns.

Where children and women were once slaughtered for her amusement, they were now herded away and secreted, well-fed and protected. Do we have either of you to thank for this, or is her dark nature simply changing from lengthy exposure to you two infectious creatures? We never understood it until now…still, something has changed in her…and we believe it is for the better.

Blackfire's fleet took over many galaxies, many quadrants, the Gordanians under her control were bloodthirsty and cruel, but never deviated from her orders to herd the women and children away to safety before enslaving the non-militant men. It made any attempt to venture beyond our own solar system very risky, not to mention going to the aid of anyone in the neighbouring systems… We simply could not come for you; I hope you can understand our reasoning." Diana finished with an almost pleading look at the pair.

"Why now?" the words rent the apologetic air like lightning, snapping all eyes to the speaker, who was lounging back against the bio-bed with a strange look to his eyes; almost…quizzical, but dark, something approaching anger and yet not, hovered in their cerulean depths.

Wonder Woman's mouth gaped open, unsure what to say…how to respond. Hawkgirl, uncharacteristically, looked away and denied the confrontation of the tone; the Batman was frighteningly quiet, and J'onn seemed to frown deeply, mouth clenching slightly, but not replying. And so, the onus fell to Superman, who shuffled his feet a moment as if to stall and collect his thoughts…

"You have to understand how dangerous it was here, we had been fighting the Gordanian fleets nearly every day for four years, their attacks had begun two years after you had gone missing… Giving all due respect to your situation, we…we decided we simply could not risk it for…just…two heroes…" he trailed off, the Man of Steel looked away.

"And yet, you still managed to magically evade the entire Gordanian fleet that is apparently all over the known universe, cloak the ship and land on Tamaran, for the sake of those two insignificant heroes. All without any other confrontation than the little altercation you had with us, when you dragged us from our _home_, is that correct or did I miss something?" the tone was so acidic it was a wonder the people it was directed at didn't start melting; taken aback, those in the room stared in surprise.

"I- yes, you could say that," Superman agreed. J'onn frowned, "That is twice either of you has mentioned the word 'Home' when you have spoken of Tamaran, and I sense an aching loss in you both that I initially associated with a longing for Earth. It seems I was mistaken…yet, I do believe this association was not of your own making… Humans refer to this type of attachment as, 'Stockholm Syndrome', I believe?"

Nightwing's knuckles cracked in the flaring anger that seemed to pass between him and Flash, there was something in the way the redhead glanced back at the dark-haired male, something the others could not understand. This time, it was Wally who spoke, "How can you say that? Did you even stop to _ask_ how _we_ felt about this 'rescue'? _Stockholm_ my ass, did you even bother to check if we had-…"

"Had _what_, exactly? _Family_? _Friends_? Grow up, Wally, you and Dick were nothing more than glorified pets to Blackfire, admit it. No matter what trappings she gave you, what titles and gifts she bestowed; it was all a lie, can't you see that?" Superman yelled, angered. Hawkgirl growled, pounding her mace into a hand and twitching her wings menacingly at the way Clark was yelling.

Still, he persisted, "Go on, deny it…did she tell you she loved you? That you had best make Tamaran your home as you would never again see Earth? She isolated you both from all you knew and loved in some far-fetched scheme to destroy her sister…who loves and misses both of you, for that matter. Koriand'r nearly killed me when I was forced to tell her she could not come on this mission, would you throw away the chance to see her again, after all she has sacrificed to see you back alive?"

"That was low and you know it," snarled Wally, pressing closer to his companion, feeling suddenly outnumbered and very small in the midst of so many more powerful than himself; sure, he could run, but so could Superman, and Diana was just as fast. He wasn't great at hand-to-hand where his super-speed was stricken useless, and was frantically running over a half-dozen scenarios and vague plans that might let them survive what was coming.

"Don't try to run, you know we can catch you." Wonder Woman said coolly, logically; a voice of reason, like water in the midst of a raging fire. He sighed, "I know…" and relaxed his tense muscles, giving in to the inevitable; seeing this, Superman smiled, "It's for the best, Wally. You know that, I know that…what happened on Tamaran was nothing more than a few absent years and an unfortunate accident.

Your attachment to Blackfire was simply a necessary reaction to your imprisonment, a survival instinct if you will, Stockholm Syndrome; none of us blame you, but you need to realise it was never real. Blackfire is a ruthless tyrant, cruel and heartless, without mercy…why she spared you is still a mystery… except to maybe torture her sister, Koriand'r. It would probably be best if you both pretended the last few years…simply…never existed, we will do what we can to help you overcome these ridiculous feelings for her, but in the end, it is your decision alone."

There wasn't time to blink before Superman found himself slammed so deep into the opposite metal wall, his imprint was damn near perfect; about his throat was the trembling, no…vibrating, hand of Wally, whose green eyes flashed with hatred as he yelled, "You don't know anything about her!"

The image flickered and Wally was gone, replaced instead by a close-up view of Wonder Woman's back as she flew backwards and struck him in the chest. "_Ooof_, I am ashamed to say, I did not see that coming. I shall not underestimate Nightwing again. If you will excuse me…?" she smiled, righting herself. Her feminine form rocketed across the room to slam into the midnight-clad human, whose Tamaranian clothing seemed a hindrance, especially the knee-high boots of ornately carved metallic substance –not unlike that of their warrior armour.

Strong and durable, but flexible and form-fitting; although, not built for one whose very essence was as free and flexible as water, they left the wearer earthbound, so he could not escape her onslaught…

He hit the bio-bed, arching away as the metal bit harshly into his back; Superman's eyes flickered towards where Shayera seemed to be circling Wally hesitantly. The speedster also seemingly reluctant to strike at her; but the redhead turned as Dick was again struck into the bio-bed, the metal bending and twisting under the force of Diana's blow… and disappeared in a blur. As did Nightwing…

"They're loose on the ship, but they cannot have gone far…for there is simply nowhere aboard to go." J'onn observed aloud, looking to the others; Superman was glaring at Batman, "You were not exactly helpful back there, Bruce, I know he's your son but-…"

A deeper voice cut across his own, "Just… find them …and above all, Clark…? If you EVER attack my son like that again, physically or verbally, I _will_ drown you in a vat of Kryptonite _myself_. Diana, it's over…" With a curt glance at the forlorn looking Amazonian Princess, he turned, and disappeared in the shadows.

Superman sighed and gestured to the others, "Come on…"

~)0(~

Tiny though the ship may be, the corridors blurred past in streams of lights and endless white walls, though they slowed as Wally brought his speed to a standstill and placed him on the floor; he arched away from the wall with a soft grunt. Normally, there would be a long, drawn-out argument about the specific manner in which he'd been carried… [_Bridal style was not exactly intimidating to any villain…_] but considering the damage he'd received in the last few minutes, well, that was one conversation that could hold out for another time.

"You alright?" he asked, looking the redhead over for any obvious signs of injury…you know, other than the bruises to the side of his face; which should have healed by now, come to think of it. Unexpectedly, Wally started to laugh humourlessly, "Me? You're seriously asking _me_ if _I'm_ alright? Dude, were you even aware that Wonder Woman pretty much tried to kick your ass into next century and partially succeeded? You _really_ shouldn't have kicked her…any form of attack and Diana goes straight into _Warrior Mode_!"

Dick laughed hollowly back, "Heh, guess you're right. Right, we have to –_agh_-…I mean, we have to find some way to get off this ship. All the Javelins have miniature craft for emergencies and escape pods…but those things get annoying after an hour, so let's steal something a little more interesting. How do you feel about taking over the ship and heading home…?" his eyes filled with mischievous light, but the speedster was having none of it. "Hey, I heard that, you can't fool me, let me see." Wally knelt on one knee, moving closer to Dick and reaching out a hand.

He pulled back, gasping as his back made contact with the wall; cold, unyielding metal pressing harshly into the damaged skin… Those bio-beds were made of sturdy enough stuff to hold down even Diana in Warrior mode; in the split-second he paused, the other grabbed him. Gently, but firmly, Wally pulled him forwards to look down at the large, red marks across his back; gasping in surprise, the redhead stroked a finger down the largest of the marks, where the skin was mildly torn and bleeding…

"This is going to bruise like one of Kori's 'Tamaranian Burns'… -Which I will _never_ forgive Beast Boy for teaching her -… Seriously- No, _stop laughing_, that's not going to help your injuries at all!- it looks bad. Hawkgirl only glanced me with her mace, probably for the best or I'd be so very dead right now…she did it deliberately, too. J'onn didn't even move, and Batman just stood there. Only Superman tried to make me Kryptonian Fried Speedster…and I know Diana tried to slam you into the next room, but that's about it if you don't count the half-hearted attempt to kill me from Shayera."

Wally laughed, lightening the mood minutely. Dick sighed, they were doomed.

…and Wally seemed to think it was hilarious; the other had the weirdest sense of humour…

If only the other could have read his mind at this exact moment, he would have burst something laughing at the irony of the thought…

"Hey, Wally, you're awake?" came a surprised, yet pleased voice. They whirled about as fast as both were capable, Wally becoming a quickly solidifying blur and Dick groaning as he turned; Green Lantern stood in the doorway, a pleasant smile on his face…which quickly fell as he saw their respective conditions. "What on Earth happened to you two? Are you okay?"

"The Justice League happened, that's what, and we're –_gah_- fine. C'mon Wally, let's go…who's piloting this thing right now?" he asked bluntly of the older hero. Pressing against the wall with both palms and rising with no small effort on his part; a green band trapped him millimetres from the wall. "Hang on there, kid. That looks pretty nasty, maybe you two should go back to the Infirmary…" John Stewart said, seeing the bruises in stark clarity for the first time.

"No! We can't go back there, ever…who do you think did this? Diana just about killed him in there for defending himself, Superman practically wants my head on a stick… look, we just want to go home, can't you help us?" Wally begged. The green band dissipated, replaced as the older male grabbed his shoulder and looked across the corridor at Wally, "Come on kid, you know I can't do that without a good reason…why do you want to go back there so damn badly? Do you know what we went through to rescue you…?"

"I- I know what you did, they explained it, but there's something you need to know. It's, well, it's about Blackfire…the others don't want to hear it, keep screaming, 'Stockholm syndrome' at us whenever we open our mouths, but it's like this…" Wally began, Dick opened his mouth to finish when something crimson shot past them and bored a hole into the wall to their immediate right. John threw up a luminescent green shield.

His earpiece crackled audibly, Superman's voice ringing through, "_Kzzzsht, John. Lower the shield, they're not well, they need to be contained for their own good. Ksssht."_ Green Lantern raised a hand and pressed against the earpiece, "Oh, and I suppose you don't feel the need to explain how Nightwing and Flash ended up looking like they've lost a fight with Amazo, huh? I can see what you did with my own eyes, damnit, why shouldn't I protect them from you?"

"_Ksssht. That…was unfortunate, but necessary. John, you can't protect them forever; just bring them back down here now, or I'll be forced to come over there and get them myself. Over and Out. Ksst."_

There was a telling 'Ka-whoosh'…and the person just out of sight vanished, as if they had never been there. Nightwing's eyes narrowed dangerously, the other two having remained stunningly oblivious to the fourth presence…but now it was gone, a subconscious barrier broke down and relief swept through their bodies.

"Well," blinked John, "That sounded pretty final… Now tell me, what's this all about?" Wally sighed, not wanting to go through it all again; Dick slid down the wall with a hiss. "They think we're crazy, but you have to realise, after seven years, we _lived_ there. On Tamaran. It's our home, now. We have a life there, family, titles…and- …" he faltered, "…Wally?"

The other looked grave, "I trust him, Dick."

John Stewart's eyes grew larger by the second as the story came pouring out.

~)0(~

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><p><em><strong>TBC...<strong>_

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><p><strong>So, Part II...let me knnow what you think, I have half-completed Part III and it may become a 4-part story. <strong>

**That is yet to be seen. ****Do you like where this is going?**

**Please REVIEW and tell me...**

**~*SailorSilvanesti*~**


	3. PART III

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Teen Titans, the Justice League or any associated Characters.**

**...it has been a long while since I updated, and I am sorry.**

**The truth is you don't really care why I didn't post, but here is what you have all asked for... Enjoy.**

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><p><strong>PART III<strong>

**~)0(~  
><strong>

The attack, when it came, was as swift and unexpected as it was efficient… and brutal.

Without any warning whatsoever, the world was filled with a blinding, burning crimson light that burned away at both body and vision until nothing remained but the welcoming darkness. Not even Green Lantern, whose powers reacted at the speed of thought, was able to throw up even a preliminary shield before the trio of heroes were overrun…

_Too Late,_ he mused as the world fell away and his mouth formed some strong curse words he'd learned in his military days. _It was always just too late to do anything…_

~)0(~

"You didn't have to do that!"

The words echoed about the small metal room as the Guardian of Oa raged; his glowing green eyes never leaving Superman's impassive face. The words seemed to bounce off of the broad S-symbol like bullets, though he could see that in some small way, he was getting to the Kryptonian; given the way the ocean-blue eyes narrowed, and Superman drew up his arms to cross them over his broad chest. To anyone else it would seem to be an impassive move, but to the other members of the Justice League, it was plain to see that Kal-El had finally been pushed far enough that he was now on the defensive.

To be fair, Superman looked a little worse for wear… pale, a series of bruises lined the strong jaw and the way the alien moved showed he was in pain; though who, or what had done it to him, remained unknown. Not that any of the others outside of Wonder Woman seemed to care…

John wasn't about to let this go, though; he'd only just awoken moments before and spent all of them since in a heated one-sided argument with an unresponsive Kryptonian. "You have a whole ten seconds to explain your thinking on attacking us like that, or I'm going to throw you out an airlock!" His ring and eyes sparked a bright, menacing green.

With effort, Superman seemed to restrain whatever the first words to come to mind were, and tried a more placating –though authoritative- tone. "John, they were unstable… you saw how they reacted to our attempt to rescue them! We just need to get Flash and Nightwing back to Earth, to both friends and family, …to the Titans. This is a temporary phrase in the re-adjustment period…" Superman began to say, but was cut off by John's harsh laughter.

"Are you kidding me? You mean, you didn't even let them explain…? J'onn, trust me… read their minds. They told me if anything like this happened, you could tell _The Man of Stupidity_, over there, why they fought so hard."

Martian Manhunter's expression flickered between surprise, internal deliberation and then determination; in the silence he questioned whether this would breach telepathic etiquette to intrude in their minds, even if they had asked for it. What if they had rescinded this permission and were unable to voice this due to their current unconscious states?

Eventually, J'onn conceded that it was both plausible and acceptable, after all… he could always ask them before he entered. To the others, he nodded and moved to stand between the two bio-beds containing the unconscious and restrained –by Superman's orders- Nightwing and Flash. His hands hovered just over the forehead of each hero…

J'onn closed his glowing red eyes and reached out, silently asking permission to be certain that this was in accordance to their wishes… and smiled gently as they responded by allowing him access to their memories almost immediately.

Long moments dragged by in silence, so profound it appeared to make both the Man of Steel and Wonder Woman incredibly uncomfortable; Batman, however, appeared incredibly smug as he watched the emotions flicker across Manhunter's face… That is, in-between the death-glare he was throwing at the Kryptonian.

The only member of the League not currently present was Shayera. The Thanagarian had taken over the role of piloting the Javelin back to Earth from the Auto-pilot, given that Green Lantern had been unconscious for quite a significant period of time; a skilled set of hands was required to navigate through this space sector. Gordanian fleets had been mobilised all over the quadrant.

The room burst into activity all of a sudden as J'onn gasped loudly, taking a jerky step away from the beds with his head in his hands; pained expression marring the normally passive green face.

"My friends, I believe we have made a grievous error in our judgement. They have been attempting to tell us of one very important fact we missed, regarding their lives on Tamaran… It seems they were consort to Blackfire, chosen above all others to be bound with her before their War Goddess, _X'hal_ and such an action can never be undone. Nor can it be done without the wholehearted consent of all parties…"

"So?" interjected Wonder Woman, "An unusual emotional attachment for captors is a common sign of this Stockholm Syndrome you have spoken of… There will surely be some way to break this bond; I shall speak with the Goddesses when I return to Themyscira."

"If it were that simple, I should say it would work… but the bond can only be broken if there has not been-… if they have not _joined_." Replied J'onn, gravely, "But we have overlooked one important factor in all this, something we would never have thought of beforehand…"

"Well, are you going to tell us or make us play that ridiculous human game, '_Twenty-Questions'_?" Shayera snapped, hefting her mace threateningly as she burst through the doors; her casually dismissive wave stated the ship was now on auto-pilot once again.

Glowing red alien eyes glared right into Superman's as the Martian answered gravely, "They refused to leave Tamaran for one very important reason… they have… Superman, there are _children_ involved."

And then there was silence, only occasionally broken by Superman's screams…

~)0(~

Weeping.

Someone was… crying? He struggled through the fuzzy darkness that seemed to enclose on all sides and into an agonised form of awareness. His lips parted but no sound issued forth, something pressed into his back, it was designed to be soft but every inch of it made his bruises ache like liquid fire.

"Oh, you're awake!" exclaimed a joyous voice, though seemingly tinged with an undertone of sadness, from close to his right arm. Wriggling slightly, he realised that his body was apparently restrained, judging from the fact that he couldn't move it at all. There was shuffling around him and he sensed the female with the familiar voice moving to closer by his face; try as he might, his eyes felt like lead and refused to open the first few attempts he made to open them. Years training with the Batman strengthened your other senses as well as your mind and body, so it took only a few seconds to re-orient himself before the former-Robin came to realise there were other people in the room.

Gentle female hands took hold of some form of restraint over his right wrist, there was a groaning noise and it gave way almost immediately; someone sighed in exasperation while another, deeper voice laughed. "You know I was just about to release that, right?" asked the original speaker, the familiarity of the voice scraping along his fuzzy form of consciousness like fingernails down a chalkboard. Few thinks irked a member of the Batclan more than not knowing something that seemed straightforward…

"It does not matter, Starfire, you were merely worried… now please release the restraints from his body, I am sure they are hurting him." Stated a soft male voice, it sounded like warm liquid, honestly and provided a second puzzle for him to figure out; the speaker came up along his left-hand side and fiddled with the restraint on his left arm and wrist until the bracket fell right off the table with a clang.

"Oh, you were talking about being patient?" interjected a third, definitely male voice, gruff with amusement. Someone's nails were tapping at what sounded like a keyboard or perhaps, a touch-screen console, and instantly a pneumatic hissing sound filled the air; suddenly the constrictive embrace of metal was released from about his neck, chest, waist and knees.

The first female voice called out, "Wait, Roy don't even think about it-… NO!", but it was too late; evident in the way a pair of unknown objects made twin impacts on the remaining restraints on his ankles with tiny metallic _tings_. For a split-second, all was silent…

Like a series of muffled, angry coughs, several subdued explosions went off in quick succession; shattered metal broke apart and fell to the floor in a small shower of sparks and shards. Ironically, the whole process –_despite the admonishments of the others in the room at the person holding the detonator of the explosives_- actually had little repercussions to him; the explosions went largely unnoticed and did not send the expected shockwave up his body. More like a stiff gust of wind…

His body twitched involuntarily, now that it was free of the restraints; the question batting about his brain was exactly how long he'd been asleep… forced into remaining immobile by the metallic bands… and why?

"Come on Dick, it's alright… open your eyes… you're safe…" coaxed the original speaker; she was resting a hand on his shoulder very gingerly as if uncertain how he'd react. In all honesty, the acrobat wanted very much to open his eyes, but the ache of his body was returning in full force… and the darkness was calling so invitingly, promising rest, comfort, safety. The hand moved upwards slowly, very carefully, to touch his cheek… it was an overly-familiar gesture, to be certain, but that didn't mean it did not put him on full alert.

Fighting down the sudden overwhelming urge to bat the hand away as adrenaline surged upwards and through his veins, preparing for fight or flight, Nightwing opened his eyes quickly. In a singular motion, he had jerked away from the hand touching him and raised his own suddenly-free-of-restraints-and-tingling arm to shield his burning eyes from the strangely-brilliant fluorescent lightbulb hanging innocuously above the bed.

The last thing his memory supplied was a blinding red light engulfing everyone and everything around him… oh, and pain; but it had swiftly drawn into darkness, though the memory of Wally's scream and John's frantic curses were emboldened in his mind. "Who-…?" he croaked tiredly, looking about.

Ignoring the dark-haired woman by his side –obviously the owner of the hand, given the hurt expression she wore- his eyes roved about the small room, taking in the two figures by the foot of the bed; a red-headed man with a passion for the colour red who was wearing a strange smirk and an other-worldly looking male, with piercing violet eyes that glowed. The latter was still admonishing the first over the explosive items he had used earlier…

Suddenly, his eyes alighted on someone new and yet, achingly familiar… but, wait-… no… it couldn't be, not here. Not if this was where he believed himself to be…

By the side of the bed, a familiarly golden-skinned female moved closer to grasp his closest hand, immediately crushing all hopes she might be the longed-for, Kormand'r, as she spoke in a voice far too soft for Blackfire. "_R'chard?_" she obviously missed the involuntary flinch at her use of Kormand'r's Tamaranian petname for him, he looked back at her impassively.

"It is I, Koriand'r… Starfire, remember?" she continued on, large green eyes open and expressive, clearly worried after his welfare. Thoughts were swirling about in his mind, memories were fuzzy right now… probably from the ass-kicking they'd taken on the Javelin, or perhaps it was the gnawing hunger churning within; but nothing seemed to be forming with any great clarity.

"Donna, Garth, Roy, the other Titans and I… we were so worried about you. When you both arrived, when we found out what had happened on the Javelin, what Batman did to-… let us not speak of it. You were both so injured… there was a time when we thought you may die on us and the thought still hurts my heart to think of it. Especially since Wallace is not faring so well…" Starfire glanced over her shoulder towards a sickly-yellow curtain, with a worried expression.

Memory sparked, fragments coalescing to piece together something important… no, _someone_… a flash of red hair-… oh, _Wally_. Nightwing sat up, not quite as quickly as he would have liked… but given that his entire body felt like a large healing bruise… it was good enough for now. One hand immediately went to his face borne out of an instinctual need to check for his mask; the automatic response still active after all this time. Logic told him that had he been wearing his mask, then it would have filtered the light to an appropriate level earlier…

Fabric moved against the skin of his legs and he looked down, delighting in the discovery that he still remained clothed in his favourite blue outfit from Tamaran; though a shade cleaner than it had been aboard the Javelin. Someone had washed it, recently too if the flowery scent of laundry detergent was anything to go by…

"I took the liberty of washing your clothing, it's…very flattering, bythe way." Said the other female in the room, the one who could only be Donna; her face was as familiar as his own reflection, and he questioned how he had ever forgotten. She was still standing by his head, hovering like she wanted to reach out and hug him, but was restraining herself because of his earlier rejection.

He frowned, finding it strange that he had to think for a second to find the words in English, before saying, "Thank you, Donna…". Her sky-blue eyes went wide and she covered her mouth as it fell open in surprise, again she visibly restrained herself; but he was glad that the words had soothed the earlier anguish of his blatant rejection.

"Huh, that's all you're gonna say then?" came the gruff voice from the bottom of the bio-bed; unmistakeably belonging to the red-headed man in the blindingly red suit. A flash of memory resurged at the sight of the colour…

…_Wally calling out… the S-symbol… Batman…Green Lantern trying to make a shield… Superman screaming…red light… pain… nothing…_

He put a hand to his head as the memory played out, grimacing, but trying to concentrate on the one detail that made no sense… Why was Superman screaming…?

"Hey, you okay there, Shortpants…?" the red-head asked, crossed arms unfolding as he leaned forwards over the end of the bed in concern, his expression from behind the mask seemed worried but also guarded. In fact, he flickered a glance about, they ALL appeared as if treading on eggshells… like everyone had decided before his return to consciousness that he would break,and were being careful not to find themselves the cause of this anticipated emotional-distress.

He waved his hand dismissively, failing to find a verbal response capable of forcing it's way past the dry burn in his throat; Roy settled back into his original stance, quiet again. One could say he was being cold and unemotional, but anyone who truly knew him understood that with so many conflicting emotions involved in this meeting, Roy was simply unsure what to feel, and so, retained the impression of nonchalance. Probably more than a little stung over the casual dismissal too, but far too proud to show it.

Without a word, Donna moved away and Kori took her place, offering a tall glass filled with opaque liquid and he sipped the water gratefully, staving off the desire to gulp it down because he knew from experience it would only make him ill. The empty glass was taken away before he could even verbalise the need for its removal…

He grew somber, looking at the three standing by the foot of his bed as Kori walked across the room to return the glass to a bench furnished with a small cupboard and sink arrangement.

"Where's Wally?" he half-demanded, half mentally giggled at his choice of phrasing but retained a outwardly serious expression. There were looks over his head that did not bode well… his heart pounded slightly faster in fear of what he might be told about the speedster, but the as-yet-silent dark-haired male to the foot of his bed turned to the right and reached for the curtain he had noticed earlier. The man pulled at the sickly-yellow fabric hanging from a circular track attached to the roof, dividing the room; with a grating '_schink_' another bed was revealed, surrounded by others that were as familiar as they were not. This didn't feel like a hospital…

"You're in the Tower, in case you were wondering…" Roy interjected into his thoughts. "The League –well, Wonder Woman at least- wanted to keep you on the Watchtower, but considering what Batman did to Superman for attacking you… I didn't think you wanted to wake up in all that. So Donna and Kori went up and let their fists do the talking. Hell, even Bats and Hawkgirl made it clear you and Speedfreak were to go to either the Cave, or the Tower, no other options available."

A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, it wouldn't surprise him if the man he'd always known as 'Uncle Clark' had met with an unfortunate… _accident_, at the Batman's hand. The tall dark-haired male remained silent as he moved closer to the bed and slowly came towards him; infuriating as it was, all he could seem to remember about this teammate was that his name was Garth. Huh, perhaps he'd been hit harder than he thought… not to mention oxygen deprivation of being super-strangled…

Still the one named Garth did not speak, but instead moved away from the curtain to approach the bed; slowly and warily, as if he expected Dick to react violently or run if he made too sudden a movement, the same cautious way one would approach an injured animal. Garth raised a hand as he drew closer to the injured vigilante, each movement utterly methodical and calm; and yet, Dick immediately felt a deep sense of mistrust that surprised even himself.

Then again, in the last twenty-four hours or so… -_actually, how long HAD it been_? No matter… but still, the staggering amount of betrayals from people he'd-… _they'd_ trusted implicitly for the majority of their lives, had begun to stack up. It was only logical to have misgivings… even towards half-remembered teammates…

As he could not fathom the exact reason why the other was approaching him right now, natural-borne instincts thrummed to life without thought and just the tiniest bit of fear coursing its way up his spine; and he shied away from the contact, much to the dismay of the others watching on.

"Please, I will not hurt you…" the male begged, glowing indigo eyes pleading and mesmerising all in one long glance; he felt completely unable to look away, like a deer in headlights as the other reached out and made contact. He felt the hand, like water, slide down his shoulder to rest upon tender flesh, dancing over the bruises with practiced gentleness…

"It is as I feared, your body refuses to heal itself, but grows steadily worse. Sadly, this is also the case for Wally… though we cannot seem to determine a reason why. It appears that the Batman's theory seems the only logical conclusion, but I will tell you more on that later… it might be overmuch for you to process right now. I am glad you have returned to us, Richard, I have missed you." The -_Atlantean, right_?- smiled gently, practically exuding positive, calming vibes. Vague memories of them all floated to the surface of his very tired mind, from so long ago it felt as if he were viewing an old film from his childhood.

Resentment flared deep within him at the Atlantean's phrasing of his welcome. "Don't you mean '_been returned to'_ you? Did Superman tell you what he did to us? First they attacked us on Tamaran without provocation, and almost immediately after that, he and Wonder Woman nearly killed us when we tried to reason out our situation in the Javelin Infirmary. Not to mention whatever he did after that, I vaguely remember red light… but that's about it..." he omitted the other parts of that particular memory. Another thought struck him though a the last thing he remembered… Superman screaming. "Tell me, what _did_ my father do to him…?" he asked, curious.

He missed the way that the others shifted uncomfortably and glanced to one another, like the guiltiest game of pass the parcel you had ever seen. Donna cleared her throat, "Oh, um… we don't actually know what happened…" the rest of her sentence was drowned out as his attention flagged, probably due to his low glucose levels.

Suddenly his eyes were drawn to the bustling movements across the room, past the now drawn-back curtains of sickly yellow, to the other half of the room that housed an almost identical set up to the half he was in. The only thing differing were the people milling about, and the person on the bed… also the mess, but then again, there could be a pile of mess under his bed as well… he just hadn't checked yet.

A darkly-robed teen was hovering near the head of the bed, hands resting lightly on the sleeping Wally's shoulders while a green-skinned boy –_who flickered between human form and various assorted fluffy animals with large, dewy eyes_- and a partially-robotic man picked up the mess about the base of the bed, grumbling and joking in quietened voices.

The speedster was sleeping now, but appeared to have woken at least once…

It took a moment of scrutiny, but eventually his mind realised that the 'pile of mess' was actually as a pile of fast-food wrappers and empty drink containers hastily stashed just about everywhere, most noticeably protruding from under the bed.

In another time, he would have snorted into a hand, nudged Roy and the pair of mischevious deviants would then come up with some underhanded plan to out-prank the one person who had successfully pulled the '_hand in warm water_' trick on the both of them. Right now, though, he would happily strangle _at least_ the nearest person for some answers.

If they were in Titan's Tower, how long had it been? What happened on the Javelin? What on Tamaran did Batman do to Superman and please, for the love of _X'hal_, let it have been painful…

~)0(~

"So, Katherine, did you hear what went down on one of the Javelins the other day?" whispered one of the console techs to his sister, a med intern, over lunch. She nodded, but remained quiet… Today's Special was either some form of alien sushi drenched in Wasabi, or a delicious watermelon-flavoured dessert that _looked_ like jello. The Special always started with a 'w' on '_Watchtower Wednesday_'…

James tried again, glancing at the clock and realising he only had another ten minutes until he went back on shift, and she would be being transported home with the rest of the med-team from her shift. They'd put in extra-long hours, _considering_…

"It doesn't look good," she offered in a quiet voice; and they left it at that, eating in silence until the shift alarm went off.

~)0(~

"Heck, even I know not to cross Bats… whatever the big guy did, I hope it was worth it…" Booster Gold said, leaning into Zatana and Dr Fate; all three were huddled at the opposite end of the Watchtower Infirmary, having come back from a supposedly '_straightforward_' mission in Tokyo with injuries. Damn firebreathing ninjas… like something out of a bad B-Grade movie.

The trio had made a conscientious decision to ever speak about that mission to anyone else ever again…

Although they'd happily break that newly-enforced rule in order to refrain from doing the one other thing they –as a group- had decided against doing; to not stare at the giant bio-dome down the other end of the Infirmary. The half-dozen machines attached to it beeped, whirred and clicked in time. Tubes of different coloured liquids all surged and gushed with wet sounds, snaking in and out of the dome which held the off-colour and slowly-dying Superman. It was hard to believe this could happen, but with Bats… well, let's just say it wasn't entirely unexpected…

"You bet your ass he has a way to take down any one of us if we go rogue or hurt one of his precious 'Birds'… if he can take down Superman, what chance do the rest of us stand?" the futuristic hero said again, all too aware he was –at current- the biggest joke and liability of the League. His pride had been slightly more damaged than his body was now when he realised this…

A pair of blonde medi-techs came over, each holding different coloured clipboards and frowning at them… "As far as we can tell, there is no further damage to your shoulder, Booster Gold… and Zatana, the worst of it is some deep bruising to your back, try not to aggravate it in the next few days. Dr Fate, as far as we can tell, you don't have a concussion…any longer." Said the man, his nameplate read '_Dr L. Franks_'.

"In short," beamed the female doctor, one Dr Jayne Frazer, if her own nametag was to be believed "you can all go now, and don't-… I mean, _try_ not to do anything _too stupid_ in the next few days…" A pointed glance to Booster Gold…he grinned stupidly and replied, "Fair Point…"

They filed out of the Infirmary, trying not to notice the way everyone within sprang into action when one of the machines began a frantically sped-up rhythm of beeps, lights flashing everywhere and doctors appearing seemingly out of the walls, yelling all sorts of medical jargon to each other.

On that day, all three swore never to cross the Bat…

~)0(~

"_**My'hek, **__veta'l Kovak__** She'mahk**__, X'hal_**!**"

The cry rang out as a vase crashed into an opposing wall; Gordanian servants scurried out of the way with arms raised over their heads, cowering like the cold-blooded lizard-things they were.

An animalistic howl of pure rage and loss echoed through the palace corridors, trapping itself in the different rooms… Curling through gardens and carrying right through the sadly-empty chambers she had shared with them in times so recent it ached; past their empty beds and the vacant balconies… and into the Nursery.

Twin wails rose up in the wake of the dying howl, already nannies were scurrying to attend to the twins, L'orhen and Tayl'h; the distinctive singing voice of her eldest and only son, M'nder, could be heard soothing them. That meant Kora'h was most likely awake as well, but strangely -unlike her father-, she preferred to stay silent when startled…

It was almost as if… as if the wonderous child had already processed the fear, cried and soothed herself before her mother's anguished howl had even stopped. Which, considering her father's powers, was a distinct possibility…

_Wally would be proud_, she thought to herself. _If only he were here… Why do I ache so much when we are apart? When I first took them, I never thought I would…_

The word '_**Love**_' danced at the edge of her thoughts, on the tip of her tongue, but it did not dare show itself to her… Yes, she had said the word many times to them, at the temple of X'hal where they were bound, in the throes of passion, and occasionally when they spent time together it would slip out in a sentence that praised their children. A strange kind of relationship, yes, but it was due in part to the gnawing fear in her stomach that they did not truly love her… that their actions and declarations were simply a way of stalling until they were freed.

Then again, she mused, they had had ample opportunity in the past to escape. The Titans and her thrice-cursed sister had been closest to 'liberating' her bonded pair, and would have succeeded had the two remarkable specimens of their race not hesitated for several moments too long, unconsciously torn between their old lives… and the ones they lead now. Kormand'r snarled at the memories that surfaced as she thought of all the insane, half-witted and surprisingly unsuccessful attempts made to steal them away from her in previous years. Even her own people, the people of Tamaran, had made several attempts to 'save' the pair of 'poor aliens stranded on an alien world and far from home'.

In the first few years, those she ruled with an iron grasp had tried to assuage her rightful rule by attempting to set free her 'captives'; many of the rebellious factions had thought they were on missions of mercy… when in fact freeing them would have only been a temporary measure. Neither her people, nor her bonded had any way to leave the planet; all technology that was non-essential or pertained to space-travel had been made illegal and confiscated in the name of Blackfire. Only her Gordanian military forces had control of spaceflight and weapons technology; Tamaranians were a warlike race only when necessary, but it did not help to be cautious when you had taken their world by force and anointed yourself a despot.

She had always reasoned out to the would-be rebel rescuers, that since they cannot even leave this world and return her bonded to their own planet… Why not let them stay with her, in luxury unparalleled, rather than some dank, dark underground cavern their faction was conceited enough to call a 'secret headquarters'?

Her golden fists curled tightly and cracked harshly as a particular memory, long buried, re-surfaced without warning. One fanatical faction of extremists vehemently opposed to her rule had, just the once, succeeded in stealing away her precious partners in the third year of their living on Tamaran… but only due to the fact that neither R'chard or W'llace had been conscious enough at the time to protest the 'rescue'. Apparently the consent of the to-be-liberated was not necessary when you are delusional would-be heroes…

The damnable _kel'tekshas _had not even thought to ask the humans before they ambushed them in their beds with that _X'hal_-cursed tekka-root potion of theirs. If there was a period of time in her life that High Empress Kormand'r would have preferred to erase from her memory completely, it had been the brief few days that her bonded had been taken from her side and forced into dependency on their captors, thanks to the debilitating effects of the alien root on their human nervous systems.

Even after R'chard and W'llace had been retrieved from the admittedly well-hidden group's base located inside one of the larger, more opulent and seemingly innocuous homes in the main city, it had taken months for the after-effects and lingering withdrawal symptoms to wear off. Humans having no genetic resistance to the natural Tamaranian-grown opiate; the recovery had not been pretty…

It had hurt Kormand'r to watch her bonded go through such torment, _born from the smallest of inhalations from a scrap of cloth placed over their mouth for no more than seconds_. Her anger was spent upon their captors; the punishment dealt out had been both swift, brutal and righteous… to her mind at least, she had never actually mentioned it to either of her bonded. They might not see it in the same light…

It had been a harrowing time, both the capture, retrieval and the months that followed; and just like now, the pair were forcibly coerced into leaving her side. The similarities of then and now were not lost on the Empress of Tamaran.

Of course, back then it was a simple matter of having her Gordanian Army search through the nearby cities and outlying towns to find them again, not to mention fitting each with a discrete alarm pendant; but this time… this time would be a completely different matter. Such an incursion, in her own home no less by that despicable Justice League of Earth's…

The second the shrill klaxxon's of R'chard's alarm pendant had rung through the palace, her heart had practically fallen out of her chest… no matter how quickly her forces had marshalled and tailed their leader to their room, it had been too late. All she could do was howl in rage as they were carried off in the arms of the one who presumably had been responsible for the flecks of blood all over the balcony, but most noticeably on the broken bench to the side.

This… _Superman_ had dared to hurt those she cared about, the fathers of her children… **Unacceptable. ** Curbing the furious desire burning within her to simply take off after the man and fight for them with her bare hands, all she could do was let her anguish out in one long, loud scream… a primal cry for vengeance from deep within. If only she was not-…

No, she could never wish that. Her own life would not be the only one at stake in a battle, and she could not risk any of them; if that blasted alien protector of the Earth was willing to hurt her beloved R'chard and W'llace to 'help' them, then who knows what he would do to her… or even to them should it look like he was failing his objective?

Tears of helpless rage burned up in her glowing purple eyes before they could fall; Blackfire cried for no one… and if she did, there should not be any evidence to suggest the momentary lapse of emotional judgement had ever occurred at all.

A determined rapping at the door dragged her from the darker thoughts swirling about in her mind and prompted her immediate attention. "COME!" she roared like the fiercest lion, straightening to her full height and allowing the deep violet cloak draped about her strong golden shoulders to flutter in the breeze for dramatic effect. A daunting reputation was easily maintained, if all you needed to command respect from your troops and advisors was a good outfit… and a strong breeze to blow your cape about never hurt anyone's reputation…

Well, that is to say… that was how Wally had once put it after imbibing the delicious 'purple liquid' for the very first time. Also coinciding with the first time anyone had seen someone run the circumference of Tamaran whilst naked, at superspeed; simultaneously discovering what the human tradition of 'drunken karaoke' was –and what a lovely voice R'chard had. She teased him mercilessly about it when they were alone; who knew Bats could blush…?

Of course, M'nder may or may not have been conceived around the same time… Her grin widened momentarily, because she was never going to tell either of them that. Let them wonder…

The large doors swung open tentatively to reveal several of the smarter Gordanians and those of her own people who were openly and fiercely loyal to Blackfire. They were _the Elite_, her advisors and those who would die for her without pause for their own lives… for this they were rewarded and raised above all others; kept in whatever manner of comforts they wished. It paid to concede to Kormand'r's wishes…

Amongst them, most surprisingly to their dear sister Koriand'r -on her final visit to their planet before her forced abdication and subsequent exile- was the identity of her fiercest supporter… their brother, Prince Ryand'r.

It had taken a full year within the Palace dungeons, but slowly, her dear brother had come to understand why it was she had done this… allied with the enemy and overthrown their parents. Had finally seen how Kormand'r had brought her own version of peace to Tamaran _without_ unnecessary bloodshed. Those had been points in her favour, but truth be told… it was his desire to be involved in the lives of his sister and her bonded that truly clinched his loyalty. He had always been one for family, and now with their parents dead and _dear_ _sweet_ _Koriand'r exiled from her own world…_ Ryand'r had simply made the logical assumption that there was no need to be alone and in misery when his eldest sister was holding open arms of acceptance, in his direction. He had fallen right into her deadly embrace without hesitation.

For a short time, Kormand'r had been concerned that it was merely a ruse so that he might best stir up trouble for her, or steal the throne away… but the fear in her heart thawed as she watched him interact with both R'chard and W'llace; they were friends from times past, admittedly from when they had banded together to vanquished her first attempt to conquer Tamaran, but it still counted.

The lingering icicles of suspicion within her chest had melted at the radiant expression on her brother's face when she told him he was to be an uncle… the first time.

And finally, the last seed of doubt had blown away when she beheld the sight of her brother meeting his newborn infant nephew, M'nder; loudly proclaiming the magnificence of the child and swearing an oath to X'hal herself that he would always protect him. Each subsequent addition to their family was greeted in such a manner, but during the time of each child's arrival… it could be said the most nervous person on Tamaran was the uncle-to-be, rather than their future parents. The memory of her dear brother's frantic concern still brought a smile to her face, even now…

Ryand'r would never even dream to do anything to harm her, her children or her bonded. Such was his desire to prove this to his sister, that the royal had even gone so far as to invoke the ancient Tamaranean war goddess, X'hal; who would see that the Prince either kept his word, or be destroyed by her wrathful hand. Not that there was any great fear for his life, Ryand'r was the sort of Prince who took his oaths seriously.

In short, he was the most loyal of all her advisors, and the one she trusted most; because he was the one who understood her best… and the expression on his face as he looked upon her in this moment was of shared pain. "We will get them back, my sister and Empress, trust me." He stated with vehemency.

Grunts and mutters of assent came from the others present, but there was also a great sense of unease within the large room. Their fortress had been breached, an entire galaxy's worth of military might thwarted and evaded by stealth alone, this was an act of war on Earth's behalf; and for the very first time, it had not been their side who had thrown the first blow. They were on the defensive for the very first point in recorded history, and it felt terribly and utterly wrong.

Purple eyes flashed, starbolts of violent violet brilliance enveloped the trembling golden fists clenched at her sides, before she mastered her anger as Ryand'r came over and whispered soothing words to his bereaved sister. Calming her as he had when they were children and the weight of being denied her birthright by a simple illness had often sent her into blinding rages that the palace and its occupants' personal possessions often fell prey to.

"You are right, my brother," Kormand'r breathed out, returning to her calm and collected state as if someone had flipped a switch inside her somewhere unseen, "We will get them back, even if it should cost the insolent Justice League their entire planet. What will there be left to protect and cherish if their beloved Earth has been shattered into billions of infinitesimally small pieces and scattered throughout the galaxy? The denizens of their world enslaved or slaughtered…"

Madness glinted in her eyes, one the Tamaranian advisors knew well and averted their own gazes in sympathy; the heart-sickness, born by those who were bound but torn apart by tragedy. Normally it was an emotional reaction that occurred when one or more members of the bond had experienced a trauma of any kind, or the death of any of the bonded…

There was no reasoning with one trapped in the midst of the heart-sickness, they were consumed with bloodlust until reunited with their bonded, were killed or took their own lives, unless they were cared for and watched until it finally passed. The main problem with the last option was simply that no one knew how long it lasted, and the affected could have weeks of clarity and peace before showing symptoms again… it was very rare to survive this affliction without resolution by reunification of the bonded.

Ryand'r bit his lip, green eyes wide and concerned. He could see the sickness filling his sister, feeding her darker nature, and while he could not condone the heinous act of the Earth heroes… especially at a time like this… he truly did not want to see the world destroyed. There were still humans there that he remembered with fondness (mostly Teen Titans), from their many trips to Tamaran in the past with his other sister. However Kormand'r needed him more, for support and strength right now… Earth be damned.

"Sister, we are with you… but what should we do to retrieve them? And… what shall I tell the children? M'nder and Kora'h are both asking for their fathers, I told them only that I did not know and would ask you at the earliest opportunity." He placated, his hand gently touching her gauntleted wrist. For a mere blinking of the eye, Kormand'r –the High Empress of Tamaran, Conqueror of Galaxies and Ruler of the majority of the known universe- looked utterly lost… like an abandoned child, watching as her parents strode off without a single glance backwards.

Her voice was soft at first, like a whisper to him, but gained strength with each symbol, "_Tell them…_ Tell them their fathers have been stolen from me by monstrous beings, but we shall get them back, I swear to X'hal!"

In full glorious fury, Kormand'r was back to herself, and completely in her element as she began to order her advisory council and it's main members about.

"War Commander Lord Grayung, inform the fleet commanders to prepare for a full-scale invasion; Engineering Senior Minister J'trel, have the engineers complete all maintenance immediately, or they will face execution for treason against the throne. Grustau and Gormg, fire up your warriors… a nice blood-fever to unleash on an unsuspecting world of weak, pathetic creatures; it shall be a sight to see. Security Chiefs Lel'tuk and Uumgou, you will both confer with one another and find the best possible means of maintaining control on the planet while I am away, report your findings to my brother. He shall take my place as your ruler while I am absent; tread carefully, for if I hear of a single slight or omission… then both your heads shall adorn my throne room wall! The rest of you, you already understand your duties, see to them… now leave me."

Taking the dismissal for what it was, the assembled Tamaraneans and Gordanians bowed low and left the room at great speed to fulfil her bidding. One solitary figure remained, Ryand'r. His eyes showed hurt, "My sister, why do you assume that I shall stay here and wait patiently for your return when you go off to fight such formidable foes? Whether you like it or not, I am coming to Earth with your permission, or otherwise… they are my brothers now, and if I do nothing then the haunted faces of my sweet nieces and nephew will taint my dreams for many cycles of the moon to come."

Kormand'r opened her mouth to rebut the statement, to state that her intention was to leave her throne to the one person she could truly trust to return it; and tell him that, deep within the heart many refuted she even possessed, it was really her selfish way of making sure he would be safe from harm… but she found the words lodged in her throat. Ryand'r was correct, he would come whether she wished it or otherwise, it might as well be with her permission.

With a heavy sigh, the High Empress smiled and put a hand dramatically to her forehead, "Oh brother, what can I do with you?" A rare laugh escaped.

~)0(~

From behind the heavy _h'tak_-coloured curtains, young Prince M'nder shivered, tears streamed from the brilliant violet eyes he had inherited from his mother. A fist was jammed in his mouth, stifling the sobs he would never allow another to hear. Too proud to cry, to admit weakness… or just a scared six-year-old child who truly did not want to upset his grieving mother further?

Someone had taken his Fathers, this the young red-head had understood. A tiny hand was clutching reflexively at the soft fabric of his long, blue loincloth; M'nder looked down and smiled to see that the other was firmly jammed into the four-year-old's mouth. Kora'h sucking away at her fingers for comfort, despite how many times she had been admonished for the infantile practice. Of course, no one could scold the girl for long, not with the way in which she could widen her emerald eyes innocently, with just the hint of tears, which melted even their mother's sternest gaze. They were the same shape as a Tamaranean's, but thought the iris was enlarged to almost three-quarters of her eye, it was still undeniably human in origin; a genetic marvel shared by both of their younger twin sisters –Tayl'h and L'orhren- and glowed with an inner light that could not be quantified.

M'nder was uncertain whether Kora'h understood the gravity of the situation, or whether he actually fully comprehended it either…

But the young prince knew he had to help... even if it was only in some miniscule way.

His mother moved closer to where he and his younger sister were enshrouded by the elegant cloth, and he froze –not so much from fear, but instinctively, like Father had shown him all those years ago. Allowing the natural movements of the curtain as a soft breeze circulated through the room to hide his shallow breaths and tiny, unconscious movements. It was a natural gift, to move about unseen… but unfortunately, it seemed that Kora'h had not been imbued with the same ability, for she wiggled and twitched, fidgeting for no discernable reason. M'nder's heart practically paused as a frown crossed his mother's fair but stern features, glaring openly at their hiding place… She seemed on the verge of striding over and swiping away the concealing fabric.

His mind was already roving as fast as his eyes, glancing about for an exit and simultaneously forging, rethinking and ultimately rejecting various plans of escape. Thinking ahead was always an unconscious habit of his, making plans for plans and a back-up to boot on the off-chance the originals failed. Father had once ruffled his hair and laughed to his other Father that he'd rubbed off something called 'Bat-paranoia' on their 'poor son'…

Father had laughed and responded playfully, ending with them having a mock-fight in one of the fountains. It had been a glorious day. The past faded away as reality struck once again, the princeling realising how much danger he and Kora'h were in should they be caught…

"Sister… come, we must not delay this longer than necessary… I-..I fear you may be ill already, if you understand my meaning. As it stands, we have little time to spare; but let us go and spend it with the children. They will be sad to see you go, but overjoyed when you return home with their Fathers…" Uncle Ryand'r said to Mother in a soft voice filled with concern. M'nder saw the struggling emotions play out over his mother's face, then finally she conceded and turned back to him with a smile, "You are right, brother. We shall see the children at once."

The great exhalation that left his tiny body as the door closed behind the pair was pure relief being released into the open air; he drew in a deep breath to refill practically empty lungs when a sudden thought struck the boy like lightning… They were going upstairs to visit _them_. As in, the nursery where both he and Kora'h should be patiently awaiting news of their Fathers… _right now_.

He hefted the little girl on his back, feeling her golden arms secure themselves about his neck and little chubby legs squeeze his ribcage from behind… if nothing else, he would have an inexplicable Kora'h-shaped bruise on his back come morning. M'nder ran through the doors and made a series of clever darts through the palace, avoiding guards left and right, finally throwing himself through a small entranceway to the very end of an empty corridor. Empty of course, because this was the Advisor's Wing of the Palace, and seeing as they had all been sent off on errands by Mother at this very moment… no one was home. That worked out perfectly for the Prince and little Princess…

M'nder winced a moment as he suddenly realised the wet sensation on his chest was Kora'h's spit-soaked hand touching him; an involuntary shiver coursed through his frame, but that would have to wait. The Minister for Palace Security –_a young Tamaranean warrior of reputed prowess across the sectors_- Chief Protector Val'ya, happened to own the Palace suite directly below the Nursery; strategically a brilliant move on Mother's part. Val'ya could be awake in under a second and leaping her way from the balcony attached to her own suite, to that of the Nursery above in mere seconds… it had been tested many, many times. It was this very amazing set of acrobatics that had inspired M'nder to try it one day, when he had thought no one was watching…

Well, it was probably lucky that Father had been watching that day, or he may have fallen to his death after miscalculating the leap required to reverse the process. Frightful as the manoeuvre had been at the time, with the near-fatal accident aborted, the young Prince was surprised to realise how natural it had felt…

Father had laughed it off and thankfully not mentioned it to Mother, but after hearing the Prince's confession, had taken it into serious consideration and begun to secretly train M'nder in acrobatics and combat. Of course, they both knew that Mother probably knew and was choosing not to do anything about it… but it was far more fun to pretend otherwise…

It was for that reason alone that he had attempted this very stunt tonight; sneaking into Mother's rooms to find out the truth of the situation rather than waiting for the watered-down version that would be delivered by one of the various K'norfgah –or as Father preferred to call them, 'Nannies'- assigned to their care since birth. To 'spare' them all the pain and anguish of knowing the truth. They may be children, but none of them were excessively prone to stupidity and were all unerringly clever for their respective ages… often to the chagrin of parent, servant and K'norfgah alike. As a collective of children, they _knew_ without hesitation that something had happened. Father and Father were missing, and the servants had been clearing rubble from their room for hours.

However, it was the blood-stained bench, cracked and broken as it was, that truly set his heart quivering with fear… and a desire to know the reality of the situation.

Kora'h weighed very little in comparison to his own bodyweight, but Father had always reminded him to compensate for any extra weight no matter how small, or the result could be disastrous. Taking a deep breath for clarity, the Prince felt his heartbeat pick up with enthusiasm as he climbed gingerly onto Val'ya's balcony rail, the stone warm under his feet despite the sky of stars. The balcony above was only meters away, tempting… but the voices of Mother and Uncle were also growing in intensity, echoing down the upstairs corridor and out of the nursery; he would need to be quick to outwit them.

"Kora'h, hold on as tight as you can, and don't let go, remember?" he whispered softly, feeling little arms and legs taking in a vice-like intensity about his body; he felt the soft strands of red brush against his neck as she nodded whilst hiding her face. To be fair, she was only four, and this scared her no end… but there was no other way.

Counting down from a reasonable number in his head, M'nder put both of his arms out, felt for the adjustment he needed given Kora'h's almost negligible weight and did a backflip on the rail, and another. The speed and momentum gained allowed for the third flip to have much greater force behind it, and he pushed off of the balcony rail's solid stone, feeling gravity pull at him, but also whipping his body in an upward arc. After many seconds, the sensation of carefully carved stone graced his palms and the world righted again; with only seconds left, the doors to the Nursery creaking open almost as if in slow-motion, the Prince and Princess heaved themselves up, leapt over the balcony rail and tumbled apart as they hit the cushioned floor. M'nder hit the pile of pillows with an 'Oomph!' sound, while Kora'h giggled and tumbled right into a pile toys, picking them up immediately and beginning to play as if she'd been doing it all night.

Mother and Uncle stood in the now-open doorway, looking in quietly… M'nder pretended not to notice them for a moment, then appeared to start at the sudden invasion. "Hello Mother, Uncle Ryand'r… what are you doing here?"

As the adults looked to one another with uncertain expressions, silently asking who should tell them, and exactly what… the young princeling smiled to himself, they had bought their deception. Then again, was that not practically written into their genetic codes?

~)0(~

Upon the large monitor mounted upon the roughly-hewn cave wall, was the image of an extremely pale man surrounded by various machines and monitors that created a cacophony of noises, all spewing forth from the screen. Overriding all was the sound of a heart-beat, or to be more precise, the beeping ping that signified the creature hooked to all the tubing was still alive… A visual representation of the machine's feed-out appeared on a smaller, adjacent screen to the left.

The peaceful rest of the man was broken as he appeared suddenly agitated and flailing, tearing out Kryptonite-laced IV-tubing and all manner of sensor patches from his person; eyes remaining shut.

A deep, but surprisingly calm voice, spoke into the gloom as the image flickered… doctors rushing from all angles on-screen and attempting to restrain the patient. "Record. File Under: Experiment '_I Tawt I Taw a Puddy Tat'_. Time Index: 0234, Hour thirty-seven. Subject appears to be showing violent reaction, growing agitated, thrashing about, damaging himself; conclusions… the lesson is being well-learned. Save log entry."

The computer bleeped, "{_Acknowledged._}"

As Superman continued to flail about on-screen, unknowingly committing something the alien considered anathema, by injuring dozens of the humans he sought to protect… a darkly-clad figured leant back in the ominous black chair before the monitor, obviously enjoying himself.

"Record. File Under: _Experimental Footnote Supplementary_. Subject does not seem aware of his actions, but has wounded over twenty-four medical personnel in under forty-six seconds and appears in state of unconscious agony. Subject appears to be unaware that this is merely stage one… Save log entry."

Steepling his hands together, Batman allowed an uncustomary smirk to grace his features as he stared at the man he had begrudgingly called 'friend' for many years with something akin to loathing.

An alarm went off somewhere in the 'Cave, and the Dark Knight reluctantly rose to attend to it, data appearing on a series of smaller monitors to the right of the BatComputer. Looked like Joker was doing a little partying… the madman was literally painting the town red in what appeared to be very thick pai-… _blood_, it was blood. For a split-second, Batman almost considered letting him continue on so that he might stay and continue to watch the opening act of what promised to be a very entertaining floorshow… but duty called, Gotham needed him, and Justice would answer.

Pausing before the door to Batmobile Hanger One, the Dark Knight listened to the distressed sounds of the now-conscious Man of Steel as he realised what he had done –despite reassurances from the remaining uninjured doctors that it was not his fault- and Batman smiled. Disappearing into the shadows without a trace, and a dark echo lingering about the walls…

"_**I'll teach you not to touch my Birds ever again…**_"

~)0(~

* * *

><p>~*To Be Continued...*~<p>

* * *

><p>So... it was a little bit lengthy, and blarghy, but there was a bit of exposition required before the next chapters,

Sorry if it was not what you expected after all this time.

You may notice a few made-up words in Tamaranean... **I did this Because Reasons.**

Please feel free to leave me a Review or PM with your thoughts... things are only going to get interesting from here-on in.

**~*SailorSilvanesti/Phoenix Fire*~**


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